“We’re at a crucial time in Australia,” Shireen Morris told SBS Punjabi. “It really hit home for me as I watched the horrific reports from New Zealand, that cohesion is what we need most.”
“It hammered home to me the importance of embracing each other as Australians, no matter what our heritage, our skin colour or religion.”
“Our political leaders need to stand up for the immigrants, for Australians of diverse backgrounds, but I haven’t seen that happen. I’ve been quite upset and disappointed by the divisive rhetoric I’ve been hearing – and it’s not just One Nation to blame for it. The Liberal government must be held to account as well.”
So what prompted her to join politics?
Ms Morris told SBS Punajbi, “For the last 7-8 years I’ve been a constitutional lawyer, advocating for the rights of Indigenous Australians. I was involved in developing the concept of a First Nations voice in the Constitution, which was later endorsed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.”
“When the previous Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected the Uluru Statement, that was the moment I realised that you need to be in parliament to make a real change,” she added.
She joined the Australian Labor Party towards the end of 2017 and was soon pre-selected as the Labor candidate from the seat of Deakin.
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Talking about her heritage, Ms Morris said, “I’m born in Australia, but my Dad is from India and my mum is Fijian-Indian. Dad is Gujarati and Mum’s family was originally from South India.”
“They both came from very humble backgrounds, migrating to Australia towards the very end of White Australia policy. Both studied medicine and ran a medical practice in Park Orchards for decades.”
Ms Morris talked about various issues that impact migrants in this interview – including the cap on the annual skilled migrant intake, funding of new community language centres and a promise to reverse delays in processing of citizenship applications.
Slamming the current government’s parental visa policy, Ms Morris said it is “too expensive”, “allows for only one set of parents to be sponsored” and that she “does not agree with the capping of the number of visas granted.”
She added, “I’m also very concerned about the privatisation of the visa system by the current government. I’m a strong supporter of multiculturalism and will advocate for a fairer and more generous policies for migrants.”
Saying it isn’t easy to predict whether she will be able to win the seat of Deakin, she sounded optimistic as she said, “I’m very excited to be campaigning and meeting people from the electorate. The seat of Deakin is held by a margin of 6.3 percent and I will need every vote I can get to win. I think it’ll be very close.”
