About ten years ago Indian Australians were untouchables for the Liberal Party while ALP had long taken notice of their presence and a couple of Indian Australians could be seen representing ALP at the local level as well as state level.
In parallel with ALP’s Sub-Continental Friends of India existing for quite a long time, Liberal Party floated the now-defunct Liberal Friends of India around about 2012-13 to show their love for the Indian Australian community and as an acknowledgment of their contribution to the Australian society.
The contribution and concern for the wider community-at-large and philanthropist tendencies of the Indian Australian community particularly the Sikh community during the COVID-19 epidemic making available free food to the needy particularly international students who were left without work during the extended lockdown, suspension of international travel, and coming forward during the recent drought, fire and floods made a mark on the psyche of the wider community let alone Liberal Party
The Liberal Party seems to have taken cognizance of and noticed the grit, enterprise, and social concern of the Indian Australian community at last. As a result, Liberal Party has nominated three Indian Australians for the upcoming federal elections from the thought unwinnable electorates of Greenway, Chifley, and McMahon respectively in the Western Sydney while a lot of Indian Australians can be noticed across the length and breadth of the country as visible from their first and last names.
There is only one thing that is clear from this: the Liberal has started acknowledging the presence and aspirations of the Indian community in western Sydney, and nothing more than that.
However, it was inevitable to happen because of the changes in demographic changes taking place in western Sydney.
A few months ago, there were local elections. The Liberal Party did not officially endorse anyone because of ever endemic branch stacking and factional manipulation. As a result, multiple groups of Independent Liberals contested in Parramatta, Cumberland, and Blacktown councils knowing fully well or rather ensuring defeat and offering the power to ALP on the platter.
It is still better to nominate someone rather than not fielding anyone and surrendering without contesting, that is what the Liberal Party has been doing for the past couple of Federal as well as State seats.
It was surprising to note that this time the party has gone begging to ask anyone to put up their hands to contest even those who were, though refused even third positions in local elections even for unwinnable seats.
The Liberal Party has to put its house together, identify and groom the right talented people for such seats rather than pick up unworthy opportunists with some other ulterior short term motives, the Indian Australian community has plentiful because of the mental baggage they carried over from the Indian political culture just to raise their profiles but in the long run, will cause irreparable damage to the party as well as the community.
There is no dearth of right low profile people of substance who understand Australian ethos, values, and issues, and can cogently face the media and represent the party and its ideology that the party should identify, and cultivate to avoid embarrassment and damage to its image to avoid the situation that happened some time ago for Blacktown state seat.