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The Indian diaspora and its political impact on Australian politics
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The Indian diaspora and its political impact on Australian politics Political parties court the growing community amid the emergence of ethnic Indian MPs Jonathan Pearlman For The Straits Times
Members of the Indian community celebrating an upcoming visit by Indian PM Narendra Modi in Sydney's suburb of Harris Park, known as Little India, in May 2023. PHOTO: EPA-EFE UPDATED MAY 27, 2024, 05:48 AM FacebookTelegram... SYDNEY – In Australia, a wave of Indian migrants in recent years is making its impact felt across the country’s economic and political landscape. In the decade to June 2022, the number of Indian-born people in Australia increased from 355,380 to 753,520. The surge in numbers – Indians now make up the largest source of migrants to Australia – is clearly visible in suburbs such as Harris Park in Sydney. About 45 per cent of the suburb’s 5,000 residents were born in India, compared with just 19 per cent who were born in Australia. The suburb is filled with Indian restaurants with cuisines from various parts of India, alongside stores selling saris, bangles and spices. Indeed, Harris Park is unofficially known as “Little India”, with local Indian businesses pushing for the area to be officially designated as a Chinatown-style Indian precinct. The Indian diaspora community tends to be centred in hubs of major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. For most Australians, this transformation of the population is hard to miss. A recent survey of 2,532 residents in the state of Victoria by the Australia India Institute, a centre based at Melbourne University which seeks to promote Australia-India relations, found that 71 per cent of respondents had regular interactions – daily, weekly or monthly – with the Indian diaspora, primarily at shops and restaurants or at work. And 51 per cent said the Indian diaspora made a positive contribution to the local community. One respondent, for instance, said Indian Australians were “hard-working, team players with a strong connection to socio-economic mobility... upholding Australian values”. For all the increasing visibility of the community, however, it has not been matched by a rise through the ranks of the corporate and political world. Of the nation’s 227 federal MPs, just three – two from the ruling Labor Party and one from the opposition Liberal Party – are known to have Indian heritage, even though about 3 per cent of Australians now have Indian ancestry. Australia, it seems, is not yet ready for its first Asian prime minister, as when Mr Rishi Sunak became prime minister of Britain in 2022. The Australia India Institute survey found that 77 per cent of respondents were not aware of Indian diaspora members in leadership roles in business or politics. “The Indian diaspora lacks a visible presence, an authoritative voice at higher levels of state and federal policymaking, in universities, large corporations and peak industry bodies,” it said. Just 16 per cent of respondents thought there were sufficient numbers of Indian Australians in leadership positions, with 23 per cent of respondents saying there were not enough, while 59 per cent did not know. Australia is a country that prides itself on its multicultural diversity and its demographic make-up has evolved over the years. Currently, Indians are Australia’s largest foreign-born diaspora, apart from people born in Britain. Indian-born Australians are expected to overtake the British-born cohort this decade. The Indian community is on track to surpass communities such as those with Italian and German backgrounds (rather than those born in those countries) who have been migrating to Australia for far longer than Indians. Indeed, Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was elected in 2022 and whose late father was Italian, is the country’s first Italian-Australian leader. An Indian-Australian business leader, Ms Sheba Nandkeolyar, the founder and head of multicultural marketing firm MultiConnexions Group, said recent waves of Indian migrants were highly skilled and highly educated, including large numbers of professionals and entrepreneurs, and are set to boost Australia’s economy. “This diaspora is going to be not just personal breadwinners but breadwinners for the country,” she said. “They integrate well. They tend to become good citizens… They are coming primarily for quality of life and a good work-life balance.” According to the most recent census in 2021, there were 784,000 Australians with Indian ancestry, accounting for 3.1 per cent of the population. About 32 per cent of Indian-born Australians are professionals, compared with 24 per cent of the entire population, and they tend to have higher earnings, with average household weekly incomes of A$2,461 (S$2,202), about 51 per cent higher than that of Australian-born households. Surge in Indians adopting foreign citizenship, highest numbers in more than a decade India’s diaspora is bigger and more influential than any in history Growing prominence It takes time for migrant communities to rise in politics. The first member of the Indian diaspora community to enter the federal Parliament – in 2010 – was Ms Lisa Singh, a Labor Party senator from the state of Tasmania who was an MP until 2019. Ms Singh’s great-grandfather left India for Fiji and became an indentured labourer there before her father migrated as an international student to Australia, where he married her Anglo-Australian mother. Ms Singh, who now heads the Australia India Institute, told The Straits Times she had been “quite shocked” to discover that she was the only MP of Indian heritage. “I would often be the only brown person in the room, let alone the only brown woman,” Ms Singh said. “I looked for role models. But it is hard to find role models when they are not there.” Instead, she found them indirectly in the United States, where Indian-ancestry politicians such as Ms Nikki Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations, and Vice-President Kamala Harris, have risen to national stature.
Ms Lisa Singh had been “quite shocked” to discover that she was the only MP of Indian heritage. PHOTO: REUTERS Ms Singh said she had not personally experienced discrimination but believed that discrimination based on “skin colour, gender and sexuality” could still be a barrier in politics. Asked whether Australia was willing to elect an Indian-Australian prime minister, she said: “Yes. The question is when it will happen. I think it will take another generation – our diaspora is still very young.” Despite the dismal representation of Indian Australians in Canberra, New South Wales (NSW) – the country’s most populous state – has a growing number of prominent Indian-Australian MPs. The current deputy premier and education minister is Ms Prue Car, who has an Indian father and has been described by a local Indian-Australian community website as a “Nikki Haley lookalike”.
Ms Prue Car (centre) has been described by a local Indian-Australian community website as a “Nikki Haley lookalike”. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES The state’s Treasurer, Mr Daniel Mookhey, whose parents migrated from Punjab in the early 1970s, was elected in 2015 and became the first MP to be sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy text – an event that made headlines in Australia and India. He later told the Indian Link website that he had wanted to “tip my hat” to his parents, community and heritage. “I also wanted to make it clear, this is what modern Australia and modern NSW look like,” he said.
Mr Daniel Mookhey was elected in 2015 and became the first MP to be sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy text – an event that made headlines in Australia and India. PHOTO: EPA-EFE The 2023 state election in NSW saw the first election of an MP who was born in India, Ms Charishma Kaliyanda, a Labor MP. In her speech to Parliament, she said that representation of Australians from Indian and other diaspora communities will increase if the country overcomes the “disconnect between the people we see leading our political, corporate and media institutions and the people we see in our daily lives”.
The 2023 state election in New South Wales saw the first election of a Member of Parliament who was born in India, Ms Charishma Kaliyanda, a Labor MP. PHOTO: CHARISHMA KALIYANDA/FACEBOOK Ms Singh said she believed the advance of Indian Australians in NSW politics was likely to occur in Canberra and elsewhere. “We will see a generational change in Australia, just as we have in the US,” she added. Impact on politics Beyond the slow but inevitable advance of Indian Australians towards leadership positions, the community has already had a significant impact on the nation’s politics. In particular, the diaspora community has been credited with helping to deepen Australia’s trade and diplomatic ties to India. Relations have been growing closer, particularly as Canberra views Delhi as a potential partner in countering the regional clout of China. Australia and India, for instance, are members of the Quad security dialogue, together with the US and Japan. And India is one of only three countries – along with Indonesia and Singapore – that has an annual leaders’ meeting with Australia. These efforts to develop closer ties have been helped by the receptions that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received from the local community during his two visits in 2014 and 2023. The visit in 2014, the first by an Indian leader in 28 years, drew a huge crowd of 16,000 people at an event in Sydney. The visit in 2023 drew an even bigger turnout of 20,000 people at a Sydney stadium. Famously, Prime Minister Albanese heaped praise on Mr Modi, likening him to American rock star Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen in his introductory speech at the stadium. Anthony Albanese @AlboMP · Follow Thank you to my friend @narendramodi for visiting Australia.
Watch on X 7:58 AM · May 25, 2023 60.5K Reply Copy link to post Read 1K replies The diaspora is also reshaping Australian domestic politics, as major parties compete to appeal to this growing cohort of new voters. Ahead of the last federal election in May 2022, Mr Albanese and former prime minister Scott Morrison both wore saffron scarves during visits to the Hindu Council of Australia, a peak body for the Hindu community. An expert on multiculturalism in Australia, Dr Devaki Monani, from Charles Darwin University, told ST that Australian politicians of all stripes are courting the community as it is seen as a rich source of both votes and donations. “When you have a community such as this with high-income capability, it is bound to influence politics,” she said. “Australian politicians are very much going to be walking hand in hand with the Indian diaspora community and benefiting from their financial capabilities.” But the community is hopeful that it will be seen not just as a source of votes but also candidates. According to Ms Nandkeolyar, a rise in representation will not only give Indian Australians a stronger voice in the future of their new country but will help Australia to “maximise our mileage from this diaspora”. “The political leaders all love the diaspora,” she said. “They arrive for the holy festivals, for the Diwali festivals – they realise that it is a huge vote bank for them. This is fine, but let’s also hear those voices when they are choosing candidates.” Still, there are signs of progress. In February, the federal Parliament welcomed its first MP to be sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita when Mr Varun Ghosh, a Labor politician from Western Australia and the son of Indian migrants, replaced a retiring senator.
Senator Varun Ghosh about 4 months ago It was an honour to be walked into the Senate Chamber for my swearing in by two inspirational leaders of the Labor movement - Ministers’ Penny Wong and Don Farrell. I would like to thank my parliamentary colleagues for their guidance and support in recent weeks, particularly the WA parliamentary team. To Amma and Baba, family, friends, the WA Labor Party, and the WA union movement, particularly Ben Harris and the team at SDA(WA), thank you for your support.... See more No photo description available. No photo description available. No photo description available. No photo description available. 102 23 3 In his first speech, in March, he told the Chamber: “My name is Varun Nagarajan Ghosh, and I am a proud Australian of Indian origin.” He added: “We should all have an equal chance to realise our potential and to flourish. Where an Australian starts their life should not determine where they finish it.” It is early days yet, but it will come as little surprise if this nation-changing influx leads to the emergence of an Australian Rishi Sunak. |