Members of the Indian community have extended a warm welcome to the opposition leader after she declined to apologise for a senator’s controversial migration comments.
Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price forced her party into days of damage control after saying in an interview the government was bringing in Indian migrants who would vote for Labor and support its policies.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has since reiterated coalition support for the Indian diaspora, which makes up the second-largest foreign-born community in Australia.
In an attempt to smooth over relations, she visited the western Sydney suburb of Harris Park, which is also known as Little India, on Sunday afternoon.
Community members welcomed Ms Ley with smiles and flowers, and she was taken on a walking tour of a high street, where she met local business owners and sampled food at a restaurant.
While she declined to formally apologise for Senator Nampijinpa Price’s comments on behalf of the coalition, she added the remarks should not have been made.
“The comments were wrong, they were not correct, they should not have taken place and corrections have been made,” she told ABC’s Insiders program.
“We value, respect and love our Indian community, as we do all of our migrant communities.
“I did hear from the Indian community that they felt hurt at what they heard.”
In a statement, Senator Nampijinpa Price said she regretted “not being clearer in my comments”.
“I know that many Australians of Indian ancestry – and Indian migrants living in Australia – are distressed, not only by my comments but also in reading associated newspaper coverage,” she said on social media
“My comments were never intended to be disparaging towards our Indian community.
“And I wish no ill-will whatsoever to the Indian community – or any other migrant group.”
But Senator Nampijinpa Price also used her post to air claims senior Liberal frontbencher Alex Hawke berated members of her staff following the interview in which she made the initial comments.
“He even pressed my staff that if I did not comply with his requests, I may end up like another female member of the coalition – who I won’t name,” she said.
Mr Hawke issued a subsequent statement in which he said he spoke with the senator and he “accepted her explanation of how her comments have been misinterpreted and subsequently weaponised by Labor”.
He did not address her allegations of berating staff.
“I support her ongoing work to clarify the comments she made last week and helping return this debate to the issue of overall migration levels and having a sustainable migration program,” Mr Hawke said.
Despite Ms Ley offering her party’s support to Indian migrants, she criticised the current migration system as a “mess” and added many were losing confidence in how programs were run.
“The issue here is not about the migrants, but about the infrastructure,” she said.
“You can never get the information from the government about what proportion of individuals are here under what visas, with what conditions attached to those visas, all you get is this headline figure.”
The government said its permanent migration intake for 2025/26 would remain on hold at 185,000.
Sreeni Pillamarri, a Liberal representative on Parramatta City Council, which takes in Harris Park, said Senator Nampijinpa Price’s comments had come as a shock.
“(An apology) should not come from the leader of the opposition, it should come from the member who made them,” he told AAP.
“Being from the same heritage, I’ve been asked a few questions about it from the Indian community in Parramatta and I’ve said the comments from Senator Price are not acceptable.”