Western Australian Labor MLC Parwinder Kaur has ignited controversy after using genetic research to argue that South Asians share deep ancestral links with Aboriginal Australians, calling for an end to arguments about who is ‘more Australian.
Speaking in the Legislative Council on 9 September, Dr Kaur said her intervention was prompted by recent anti-immigration rallies and repeated claims that new arrivals were straining the health system. “Angry voices [are] pointing their fingers at migrants, at people like me,” she told parliament, adding that the debate around generational belonging was misplaced.
“As per DNA evidence, and it goes back not just a few generations but approximately 141 generations, the people and the community who were targeted, particularly because of the number of migrants in this country, which is my community, the South Asian community, or the Indian community in general, has genes that are integrated in the very first people of this nation,” she said.
Citing a 2013 genetic study, she tabled documents in parliament suggesting that some Aboriginal Australians carry up to 11 per cent of their ancestry from migrants who arrived from India around 4,000 years ago. “This coincided with the arrival of dingos and tools, and that binds our histories long before Europeans set foot here,” she said.
Dr Kaur argued that even further back, human migration from Africa linked South Asian ancestors with the First Peoples of Australia. “I think we need to stop the debate right here about who is more Australian and how we define that, because if we are looking for evidence, the evidence is very, very clear.”
She went on to counter claims that migrants are a burden on public services, stating: “Migrants hold nearly half of all our STEM jobs in this country, which includes in the engineering, IT, research and innovation sectors. In our hospitals specifically, over 40% of doctors and 35% of nurses were trained overseas. In aged care, two in every five workers is a migrant.”
The biotechnologist, who migrated from Punjab in 2007 and worked as a scientist before entering politics, described migration as both a personal and professional sacrifice. “People like me and my family have chosen to live here and work for this country, leaving our aged parents behind. It is a choice that we made because this is a gorgeous place.”
Her speech has been seized on by critics, with outlets such as The Noticer framing her words as a claim of superiority of South Asians over Europeans. While Dr Kaur did not use such language, her reference to genetic connections has drawn fire online, particularly among anti-immigration groups who accuse her of distorting history.
The controversy comes at a time when race and migration are again at the forefront of public debate in Australia. The “March for Australia” protests have reignited arguments over population, social cohesion, and the economic role of migrants. Against this backdrop, Dr Kaur’s speech has been read by supporters as a strong defence of migrant communities, and by opponents as provocative.
Her political journey has already been marked by milestones. In June, she became the first parliamentarian in Australia to be sworn in on the Sikh scripture Gutka Sahib, wearing traditional attire embroidered with the Ik Onkar symbol. At the time, she described her election as a moment of hope for the Sikh community in Western Australia.
That symbolism now carries new weight as she faces a storm over her comments. While she positioned her speech as an evidence-based rebuttal to those questioning the place of migrants, the backlash highlights the fraught nature of Australia’s immigration debate.
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