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Prominent Indian Australian community members have welcomed Opposition leader Sussan Ley’s apology for Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s comments on Indian immigration, but said the Liberal Party still has work to do if it wants to repair the damage.
The lack of a direct apology from the Northern Territory senator for saying Labor was prioritising intake of Indian migrants to bolster its support base also continues to be a source of grievance.
“May I reaffirm my strong support for all our migrant communities for the values that they bring to this country, for the contribution they make and for choosing to come to Australia,” she said.
Amar Singh, the founder of Sikh-led food charity Turbans 4 Australia, welcomed the apology but noted the absence of a similar statement from Price.
“Sussan as a leader has apologised, which is great, but I think it doesn’t cut the mustard,” Singh told SBS News.
“A person has to be responsible for their own actions,” Singh said.
“The Liberal Party has their work cut out to repair the damage that’s been done.”
Singh said the last week has been difficult for the Australian Indian community.
“It’s been really hurtful, un-Australian, and at best a low blow,” Singh said.
Price last week falsely claimed the federal government was prioritising Indian migrants to bolster its vote.
When pushed on this further on Wednesday, she said the remarks were “clumsy” but again did not apologise.
Hours later, Price was dumped from the Opposition frontbench, with Ley saying, in addition to Price’s lack of apology, “despite being given sufficient time and space to do so”, her refusal to endorse Ley’s leadership had made her position untenable.
Gurmeet Tuli, president of non-profit community organisation Little India Australia, reiterated calls for Price to make a personal apology.
“I believe it was a racial slur,” Tuli said.
“This is not acceptable; we demand that Jacinta should submit [an] apology as well.”
In a statement announcing that she had accepted Ley’s decision, Price again said she regretted not being clearer in her comments but continued to insist she’d been misunderstood.
She also said Coalition colleagues who had distanced themselves from her remarks had “chose[n] to indulge agenda-driven media commentary on this matter”.
SBS News has contacted Price’s office for comment.
‘Unedifying week’, Liberal senator says
On Friday, Liberal senator Jane Hume said there had been “mishandling on all sides” of the saga and that she hoped the Coalition learned from it and would move on from it.
“This has been an entirely unedifying week for the Coalition,” Hume said while appearing on Seven’s Sunrise program.
“Not something that we want to repeat. Something we should learn from.”
