In an interview with SBS Hindi at an election exchange in Parramatta in Sydney, Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen emphasised promoting the Hindi language in Australia.
'Too many universities have closed down their Hindi faculty and hardly any schools teach Hindi. We need to turn this around," Mr Bowen told SBS Hindi.
'I am told that Hindi is not that hard to learn. It is not very very hard. We should think about how we can teach more. The community is very important because there are good speakers in the community.
'I know the community schools teach it, but we want to get it into the public schools as well.
'We have the national strategy to lift the teaching of the Asian languages, we will work with the states and Hindi will be a very important priority language for us,' Mr Bowen said.
On parent visa
Mr Bowen said a Labor Government will deliver a fairer Long Stay Parent visa so that Australian families from migrant and multicultural backgrounds can reunite with loved ones.
“There are three big changes we are making to the long stay parent visa. We are lifting the cap, reducing the price and we will allow both sets of parents, not just one,” he told SBS Hindi.
Labor will bring a fairer Long Stay Parent visa that will allow parents and in-laws to reunite with their families and let all grandparents spend quality time with their grandkids and will be cheaper and more affordable for families, the Shadow Treasurer said.
On International students hoping for Australian permanent residency
Labor does not plan to change the string of changes introduced by the Coalition government to immigration intake and the focus on sending new migrants to regional areas, Mr Bowen said.
With many Indian international students hoping to apply for Australian permanent residency, Mr Bowen said they will have to meet certain criteria to qualify as per the current policy.
“We propose to keep the current policy. You will get a permanent residency if you meet certain criteria.
“We do not propose to make it better or worse, to be honest. We will keep the current policy,” he said.
Watch the complete interview for more.
