Daniel Mookhey from the Labor Party has been elected to the Parliament of New South Wales. The announcement was made by Harish Velji.
Born in Australia and having Indian ancestry, Daniel Mookhey was introduced to a media function on the night. Daniel is the fourth person from the sub-continental communities to be in Parliament in Australia. Others include Lisa Singh in federal parliament and Jude Parera in Victoria, both incidentally from the Labor party.
Prue Car who is of Bengali heritage was also introduced as a contestant for the seat of Londonderry. Prue has also been a councillor in Penrith for the last eight years.
The third person to be introduced was Aisha Amjad. Aisha is of Pakistani heritage and is a potential member of the Upper House in the Parliament of New South Wales.
“I believe in people before politics, and the importance of establishing relationships with individuals and links with communities which go beyond any electoral cycle. Although my parents are from Pakistan, I consider myself a part of each and every subcontinent community,” said Amjad.
Prue Car said, “Liberal choices are hurting our community. Their cuts to our schools and TAFE are making it harder for young people to get a good education and secure a stable job. This will only get worse under Tony Abbott’s plan for $100,000 university degrees.
“I will also fight the Liberals’ $3 billion cuts to our health system which have put more pressure on Mount Druitt and Nepean Hospitals. The impact of these cuts will only get worse as a result of Tony Abbott’s $15 billion cuts to health and his GP fee.
“Now the Liberals want to sell our publicly owned electricity network which will mean higher prices, blackouts and more cuts to schools, TAFE and hospitals. Our electricity network currently generates almost $2 billion a year for NSW schools and hospitals. Selling our electricity network will mean even more cuts.”
Daniel Mookhey, talking about his family said that his family was part of a wave of migration from the Indian sub-continent, and further added “My father and my mother, their contribution to the community and what they did because they were the very first wave of migrants, they spent a lot of their time starting the institutions that we now take for granted.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the very first Australian Indian to head a government department, I’m looking forward to meeting an Australian Indian to being an ambassador to India. These are the type of things that I think that people from my generation, people who were born here have exposure to the language and the culture will have the opportunity to do.”
Speaking on the occasion Harish Velji criticised the Liberal party leadership for being out of touch with voters and with the sub-continental communities.
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