A Liberal MP has announced that he wants more Indian immigrants in his Sydney electorate during a speech to a Hindi school.
Member for Berowra Julian Leeser also apologised for comments made by Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price acknowledging widespread concerns about the fact that most immigrants from India vote for Labor.
The Liberal Party has been in damage control ever since Ms Price’s remarks, with Opposition Sussan Ley making videos appealing to the Indian diaspora and visiting the Indian-dominated suburb of Harris Park, home to “Little India”, on Sunday.
Mr Leeser, who is also the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of India, told the audience in Hindi that there were “about 8,300 Indians in Berowra”.
“But, I wish I had more,” he said, before repeating himself in English.
“The reason I wish I had more is very simple. The Indian diaspora in this country, the contribution of that diaspora, is nothing short of extraordinary, and I see it in my community.
“It’s people taking their place in this wonderful country of ours, for which it has always been sacrosanct that it doesn’t matter where you were born, who you parents were, that if you work hard and play by the rules there is that place for you in this country.”
Mr Leeser said there was a “very special place” for Indian immigrants in Australia, and made a grovelling apology for Ms Price’s comments.
“I wanted just to say something, and it pains me to say it, but I feel I have to say it. My colleague Jacinta Price said something this week that I want to apologise unreservedly for,” he said to applause from the crowd.
“As my leader Sussan Ley said, she was wrong to say it, and she has walked back those remarks and I am glad that she has. Let me say very clearly, the contribution of Indian Australians to this country is fantastic.
“And you know what? India, like Australia, is a democracy. There are Indians that vote Labor, there are Indians that vote Liberal, there are Indians that vote Greens. I don’t care how you vote. I care about the contribution you make to this country.”
Mr Leeser is a Jewish Zionist who campaigned for the Voice to Parliament Yes campaign and earlier this year demanded mandatory jail sentences for anti-Semitic graffiti.
He regularly dresses in Indian clothing to pander to Indian immigrant voters, and accompanied Ms Ley to Harris Park on Sunday with fellow pro-multiculturalism MP Paul Scarr, the Coalition immigration spokesman.
The Indian government on Saturday thanked the Opposition for joining the Labor government in condemning the March for Australia rallies on August 31, which were attended by more than 100,000 Australians nationwide.
The Indian-born population of Australia was 916,330 as of June 30 last year, according to the latest official estimates, in addition to another 200,971 “second-generation migrants” born in Australia with Indian ancestry, and 113,947 “secondary migrants” who were born in other countries but have Indian ancestry, putting the Indian diaspora at about 1.23 million.
But Australia’s Indian-born population is expected to hit 1.1 million in 2026 as high immigration levels continue, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, up from 95,000 in 2001.
The Albanese government and the previous Coalition government have signed three major deals with India since 2022 that have contributed to record levels of Indian immigrants arriving in Australia.
Header image: Left, right, Julian Leeser during his speech (Facebook).
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