NSW Labor leader Michael Daley has formally apologised after video emerged of him saying that young people were being forced to "flee" Sydney because their jobs were being taken by educated Asian migrants.
A video, filmed in September last year, has emerged showing Mr Daley speaking in a pub in the Blue Mountains.
"Our young children will flee and whom are they being replaced with? They are being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs," the then-deputy Labor leader told the Politics in the Pub function in Wentworth Falls.
"So there's a transformation happening in Sydney now where our kids are moving out and foreigners are moving in and taking their jobs".
NSW Labor leader Michael Daley at the party campaign launch for the March 23 election. (AAP) Source: AAP
Many left concerned
Sydney-based Indian community leader Dr Yadu Singh says he is very concerned.
“It’s disappointing to hear a top leader from a mainstream political party ie ALP talk in this manner," he told SBS Hindi.
"NSW is a multicultural society, where diversity is a reality and welcome. Let’s not forget that almost half of the total NSW people were either born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas.
He went on to say that this type of commentary was unhelpful and unacceptable.
"They are culturally divisive and are likely to create unwanted and unwarranted difficulties and fissures among various community segments in NSW,” Mr Singh told SBS Hindi.
A sales and marketing professional working in Sydney, Udatta Durrah, says he feels the issue should not be discussed in political rhetoric.
“In a global and open market which is skills based and merit-oriented, there is bound to be competition for the best jobs in the economy. Whether that is resulting in a displacement of local talent needs to be analysed through a fact-based approach rather than political rhetoric,” he said.
Some Agree
However, there are some migrants who feel there is some truth to his statement.
Public relations professional Ms Madhu said there is a need to increase the competitiveness of local Australian youth so they can also compete with the international workforce.
“The reason Australia has immigration is because of a skills shortage. This is an opportunity to look at domestic competitiveness and skill building, so the Australian workforce can also compete internationally," she said.
"This needs to be considered positively. However, portraying Asian workers as job snatchers will not help the cause. Politicians need to invest time and effort to introspect and come up with ways of making the Aussie workforce more cutting edge."
Liberals attack Labor
Mr Daley’s comments, brought to light today, have given Liberal party leaders ammunition to attack Labor just before the state elections on Saturday.
Liberal candidate in the forthcoming NSW elections, Pallavi Sinha says the comments by Mr Daley are disappointing.
“He’s prepared to say one thing to one group and completely change his position in front of another because he’ll say whatever he thinks they want to hear – that’s not what a real leader does. As a daughter of Indian migrants, I value the contribution made by all migrants, including Asian migrants,” said Ms Sinha.
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