- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
At a time when several Indian-origin residents in Australia have not been able to travel home to meet their friends and families in India and have been requesting the country’s federal as well as state governments to ease tough border measures, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has made the headlines by making some controversial remarks over possible reopening of the borders.
When Palaszczuk was asked about international travel by reporters, she asked them sarcastically, “Where are you going to go? Are you going to go to India?”
Print copy doesn’t quite capture her delivery pic.twitter.com/nrYouE2WFE
— Jacob Gillard (@gillardjacob) September 24, 2021
The remarks did not go down well with several Indians who live in the province as well as others.
I can’t believe how callous Anastacia Palaszczuk is about borders. It’s not about tourism and happy snaps, it’s about reuniting families after two years apart pic.twitter.com/fYg6hA3LUx
— Rob Stott (@Rob_Stott) September 23, 2021
In the past, Indians in Queensland praised Palaszczuk’s efforts to prevent extended lockdowns like those in New South Wales and Victoria. In May, her government even donated $2 million to the Australian Red Cross on behalf of all Queenslanders to aid the response to the Covid-19 crisis in India.
But her recent comments were less appreciated.
More than 74,000 Queenslanders were either born in India or have an Indian heritage and many among them are eagerly waiting to see their loved ones.
For instance, Pooja Manchanda, who hasn’t gone home to see her family in almost three years, told ABC News, “Just to pinpoint one nation out of the others, I don’t think that was really called for, and in a position like hers.”
Palaszczuk’s office defended the premier’s remarks. In a statement to the media, it said she was highlighting “the problem of approving international travel anywhere”.
“As general examples of countries, which unfortunately have had high levels of COVID cases, she mentioned India and Japan, but there are many countries with COVID outbreaks which would similarly make travel problematic.”
But not many are convinced. Akashika Mohla, head of Media Diversity Australia – Asian Chapter who is based in Brisbane, said it looked like Palaszczuk had forgotten the pain her family experienced being torn apart as migrants. Palaszczuk is also a descendant of German-Australian mix.
She told Australia Today the Queensland premier’s “insensitivity” towards Indian Australians wishing to meet their near and dear ones is “bordering hate and discrimination if not racism”.
Mohla said the Queenslanders of Indian heritage are saving lives every day – as doctors, nurses, parademics, police, etc. She added that the Indians deserve better treatment from the state’s premier.
Palaszczuk has a record of courting controversy. During her 2017 Queensland election campaign, she accused Indians of taking jobs from Australians.
