The debate and post-mortem of the May 18 election results will continue for a few days. But Australia’s Punjabi community appears to have put their finger on what might have gone wrong for the Labor Party and what pulled off the “miracle” for the Liberal Party, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison called it in his victory speech on Saturday night.
SBS Punjabi spoke to Punjabis from various age groups and professions to ask them how they viewed the results. Are they happy or not? What was a draw for them and what pushed them away?
Sydney’s Devinder Singh Toki, retired senior citizen, told SBS Punjabi: “Labor’s proposal to abolish negative gearing, franking credits and tax high-value superannuation accounts failed to impress self-funded retirees. Also, they don’t have a progressive approach towards development in the name of climate change, but want to hike wages, which is wasteful.”
Nikita Shorey of Melbourne thought Labor would give people some relief if they come to power by ending the Medicare freeze. “Now out of pocket expenses remain a concern as before. God forbid, one has to consult a specialist, the burden stays on the taxpayer’s pocket,” she said.
Romaan Baloch, a resident of Gold Coast, favours the Greens Party for their approach on climate change. “They are very clear about how they’ll work to save the environment. No other party offered me that kind of clarity,” said she.
Click on the player at the top of the page to listen to this feature in Punjabi.
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