CANBERRA (TIP): Barrister Varun Ghosh became the first ever India-born member of the Australian Parliament to take oath on Bhagavad Gita.
Varun Ghosh from Western Australia has been appointed as the newest Senator after the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council chose him to represent the Australian state in the Senate of the Federal Parliament.
Welcoming Varun Ghosh, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, “Wonderful to have you on the Labor Senate team.”
“Welcome to Varun Ghosh, our newest Senator from Western Australia. Senator Ghosh is the first ever Australian Senator sworn in on the Bhagavad Gita. I have often said, when you’re the first at something, you’ve got to make sure you’re not the last,” the Minister posted on X.
She added, “I know Senator Ghosh will be a strong voice for his community and for West Australians.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also wished Varun Ghosh. “Welcome Varun Ghosh, our newest Senator from Western Australia. Fantastic to have you on the team,” he posted on X.
Taking to X, the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia said, “The Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council have chosen Senator Varun Ghosh to represent Western Australia in the Senate of the Federal Parliament.”
Varun Ghosh is a lawyer from Perth. He received degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Western Australia and was a Commonwealth Scholar in Law at the University of Cambridge. He previously worked as a finance attorney in New York and as a consultant for the World Bank in Washington, DC.
The political journey of Varun Ghosh began when he joined Australia’s Labor Party in Perth. He was just 17 when his parents moved from India in the 1980s.
“I have had the privilege of a good education and believe strongly that high-quality education and training should be available to everyone,” Varun Ghosh said in a statement.
For the past few years, Ghosh has worked as a barrister, dealing with legal matters in Western Australia and internationally with the World Bank.
In the 2019 federal election, Ghosh was placed fifth on the Australian Labor Party’s Senate ticket in Western Australia but was not elected.
Born in 1985, Ghosh moved to Perth in 1997 and attended Christ Church Grammar School.
He has been actively involved in public service, reflecting his commitment to high-quality education.
Before his current role, Ghosh worked as a finance attorney in New York and as a consultant for the World Bank in Washington, DC. He returned to Australia in 2015, working with King & Wood Mallesons, dealing with legal matters for banks, resource companies, and construction companies.
Tag: Canberra
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Indian-origin Australian Senator Varun Ghosh takes oath on Bhagavad Gita
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First Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia’s Parliament Dave Sharma wins Senate seat
CANBERRA (TIP) : Dave Sharma, who became the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia’s Parliament in 2019, will return to politics after his victory in the New South Wales Liberal Senate race. Sharma, 47, will replace ex-foreign minister Marise Payne, who has retired from the Senate, the local media reported. Sharma, who represented the Sydney seat of Wentworth until his defeat at the 2022 election, beat former New South Wales (NSW) minister Andrew Constance, a frontrunner backed by Opposition leader Peter Dutton.
In a vote by the New South Wales Liberal Party members, Sharma defeated Constance 251-206 in the final ballot on Sunday, November 26, the media reported.
Sharma, who served as Australia’s ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017, was backed by the moderates within the party. Asserting that taking over from former Senator Payne was a privilege, Sharma said, “I would like to thank the party members for the opportunity to hold the Albanese government to account in the Senate over its many missteps and wrong decisions, and to fight for the many households across NSW struggling to deal with Labor’s cost-of-living crisis.”
“The opportunity to serve in the Senate will allow me to fight for our nation’s national security interests in a time of greater global turmoil,” he was quoted as saying in the report. Congratulating him on securing the NSW Senate position, Opposition leader Dutton said Sharma’s entry to the Senate would come at a crucial time. -
Indian-origin Nawanshahr girl becomes Australia’s youngest author
CANBERRA (TIP): In a remarkable achievement, 11-year-old Ashleen Khela, having roots in Nawanshahr’s Sajawalpur village, has attained the title of Australia’s youngest female author with her debut book ‘17 Stories’. Beyond its literary success, the book is making waves for its charitable contributions to the Cancer Council of Australia, the Starlight Children Foundation, and aiding underprivileged children in India through its sales.
What sets Ashleen apart is her determination and independence in bringing ‘17 Stories’ to publication. Eschewing financial support from her parents, she embarked on a unique fundraising journey—collecting plastic and glass bottles, soft drink cans for recycling, breaking open her piggy bank, and utilizing the proceeds for the book’s publication. Talking to this correspondent, Ashleen revealed that ‘17 Stories’ spans four main genres: fantasy, magic, myth, and mystery. While rooted in fiction, some narratives draw inspiration from her own life experiences, concluding with uplifting morals for young readers.From her Sydney backyard during the Covid lockdown to the enchanting realms of caves, mountains, and rural Punjab, Ashleen says she invites readers on an imaginative journey. She encourages reflection on social injustice and deprivation, especially highlighting the challenges faced by underprivileged children living in roadside slum hovels in India. Ashleen shared excerpts from her book, citing ‘’Elisa and Josephine’’ as a poignant tale illustrating the contrast in lifestyles between kids in developed and developing nations. Another story, “Zombie Virus Diary Entry” creatively captures her personal experiences during the Covid lockdown, providing insight into the feelings of an Australian school kid confined at home.
When asked what inspired her to write this book, she said the inspiration for her writing journey stems from her trips to India, where she witnessed social disparities.
The daughter of Australia-based NRI Amarjit Khela, known for his contributions to Sajawalpur’s development, Ashleen aims to raise awareness in western countries about underprivileged children in developing nations and generate funds to support their needs.
Looking ahead, Ashleen said she is already crafting her next fictional storybook, aspiring to publish it before her 12th birthday. “This upcoming work will shed light on neglected women’s rights, emphasizing the capabilities of young women in both privileged and underprivileged parts of the world. As I grow older, I envision establishing my own charity to further aid underprivileged children,” she added. -
Australian police use Taser on 95-year-old with dementia who held steak knife
CANBERRA, Australia (TIP): Police shocked a 95-year-old woman with a stun gun as she approached them using a walker and carrying a steak knife in an Australian nursing home, sending her to the hospital in critical condition after her head hit the floor. The extraordinary police takedown of Clare Nowland, who has dementia, on Wednesday, prompted a high-level police internal investigation.
It also has sparked debate about how New South Wales state police use stun guns, which are widely known as Tasers after a major manufacturer. They are a less lethal option than firearms but have occasionally proved more dangerous than other policing options.
Police said Nowland received her injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the stun gun’s debilitating electric shock. Two police officers went to Yallambee Lodge, a nursing home in the town of Cooma that specializes in residents with higher care needs including dementia, after staff reported that Nowland had taken a serrated steak knife from the kitchen. Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter declined to say whether he thought a police officer with 12 years’ experience used excessive force by firing a stun gun at Nowland, who is 1.57 meters (5 feet, 2 inches) tall and weighs 43 kilograms (95 pounds).
Cotter said police engaged in “negotiations” with Nowland for several minutes and used the stun gun when she approached the doorway where the officers were standing. “At the time she was tasered, she was approaching police. But it is fair to say at a slow pace. She had a walking frame. But she had a knife. I can’t take it any further as to what was going through anyone’s mind,” Cotter told reporters. Nicole Lee, president of the advocacy group People with Disability Australia, said she was shocked by the police response.
“She’s either one hell of an agile, fit, fast and intimidating 95-year-old woman, or there’s a very poor lack of judgment on those police officers and there really needs to be some accountability on their side,” Lee said. Family spokesperson Andrew Thaler said Nowland’s dementia “waxes and wanes.” “The question will be, how was it appropriate to use this level of force on a 95-year-old woman?” Thaler was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald. Cotter described video from the two police officers’ body cameras of the incident as “confronting footage.” But he said the video was part of an internal police investigation and it would “not be in the public interest to be releasing that.” (AP) -
Australia blocks proposed mine to protect Great Barrier Reef
CANBERRA (TIP): Australia has for the first time rejected a coal mining application based on environmental law. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek on February 9 blocked the proposed coal mine to protect the Great Barrier Reef. The mine’s owner, the controversial Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, has not yet responded to the rejection, BBC reported. Plibersek had recently announced she has rejected plans for the Central Queensland Coal Project because of the risks it posed to the iconic reef, freshwater creeks and groundwater, reports Xinhua news agency. She proposed blocking the site in August 2022 and launched a public consultation process, receiving more than 9,000 submissions — about 98 per cent of which were in favour of rejecting the project.
“I made this decision after a lot of careful consideration because I decided based on the evidence before me that there was an unacceptable risk to the Great Barrier Reef, to freshwater creeks and groundwater leading into the reef,” she told Sky News on Thursday. “The freshwater and the groundwater that would be around the mine site — they were part of my considerations as well.” The planned mining site was about 10 km from the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area. If approved, the open-cut pits would have been constructed on the site to extract up to 10 million tonnes of coal annually for the next 20 years.
Plibersek’s decision was welcomed by the state government and environmentalists after an independent regulator found the project posed a risk to the reef.
Jaclyn McCosker, a campaigner from the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the mine would have been a climate and natural disaster, damaging local habitats.
It may be recalled that in Queensland, Australia, Adani Group has developed the Carmichael open-pit coalmine, a hugely controversial project built on land that some local indigenous groups claimed was obtained without their permission, though they lost their legal bid to block the mine on this basis. According to a report in The Guardian dated December 20, 2022, Adani became the focus of protest in the UK, after the London Science Museum announced that it would be opening an Energy Revolution gallery, focusing on green energy, in 2023, with sponsorship from an Adani subsidiary.
Adani’s representatives have long denied allegations of obtaining land through underhand tactics. “As a responsible corporate citizen, the Adani Group has always conducted its operations in total compliance with the laws of the country,” a spokesperson for the Adani Group told me via email, The Guardian report said. (IANS)
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Indian student from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur dies in car crash in Australia
CANBERRA (TIP): A 21-year-old Indian from Punjab was killed in a fatal car crash in Australia’s Canberra, a media report said. Kunal Chopra from Hoshiarpur district, who held a student visa in Australia, was returning from work around 7 am when his car collided with a concrete pumping truck on William Hovell Drive in Canberra last week, SBS Punjabi, a multi-cultural and multi-lingual broadcaster in Australia, reported. According to the preliminary investigations, Chopra’s car crossed to the wrong side of the road into the path of the city-bound truck. Chopra was announced dead on the spot. This was Canberra territory’s first road fatality for 2023.
Acting Inspector for Road Policing Travis Mills said the major collisions team continued to investigate the accident of Chopra, who arrived in Australia in February last year.
“We are heartbroken, and his family back home is shattered and inconsolable,” Honey Malhotra, a cousin of Chopra who stayed with him in Canberra, told SBS Punjabi.
Malhotra said he was making arrangements to send Chopra’s mortal remains to his family in India.
Friend and community representative, Gurpreet Singh Gill, said the tragedy has left the tight-knit Indian community in Canberra in deep shock. “We are in touch with his family, and also with the Indian High Commission, which is helping with the repatriation of his mortal remains to India,” Gill told SBS Punjabi, urging young students to remain vigilant on the roads. Chopra’s accident comes days after the Shepparton crash that left four men of Indian origin dead, another tragedy that shocked the community in Australia.
(Source: PTI)
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Australia threatens deportations after attacks on Indian Sikhs
CANBERRA (TIP): The Australian government has threatened deportations following four attacks on the Sikh community ahead of a March 15 round table in the Australian Federal Parliament to highlight concerns about New Delhi’s heavy handedness and suppression of dissent in dealing with the legitimate demands of farmers.
It all started with a pro-farm Bill rally billed as “Tiranga Yatra” followed by another such rally that provocatively stopped in front of a Gurdwara.
In both cases, the rally organizers and members of the Sikh community have traded charges of intimidation.
In the next two incidents, there was no doubt about the targeted community.
In one, a Sikh youth was chased on the streets and in the latest incident captured on CCTV, a group of Sikh men flee a gang, who smashed up their car with bats and hammers while they were still inside.
Police have been holding meetings with community leaders calling for calm while exact motives behind this latest violence are being investigated, the report said. Police are investigating whether the incident was a result of racial and political tension. They are still trying to identify those men involved and are asking for anyone who might have information to come forward, the report added. “We are coming down hard to make sure there is no further violence,” Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Thurtell said. “It is a small minority. But my message to them is under no circumstances will the NSW Police tolerate it,” Thurtell added.
Meanwhile, the Australian Alliance Against Hate and Violence has held a press conference to raise awareness of the growing threat that Hindu far right extremism poses to social cohesion in Australia. The organization which held the press conference outside the Consulate General of India, offered support for the agitating farmers in India.
Former legislator of New South Wales David Shoebridge has wondered what has happened to the land of Gandhi “which has suddenly been filled with so much of hate”.
In one instance of tensions within Sydney’s Indian community on February 14, the Tiranga Rally’s chief organizer and admin of the Facebook group “Indian Diaspora in Sydney”, Yogesh Khattar, said there was no intention to head towards a Gurdwara. “We had no plans or designs to disrespect or target any individual, group or place of worship. We are peaceful people and strong believers of multiculturalism and want to spread harmony in the community,” he told the media.
(Source: PTI)
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Facebook blocks Australians from accessing news on platform
Canberra (TIP): Facebook announced on Thursday, February 17, that it has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform because of proposed laws in the country to make digital giants pay for journalism.
Australian publishers can continue to publish news content on Facebook, but links and posts can’t be viewed or shared by Australian audiences, the US-based company said in a statement.
Australian users cannot share Australian or international news.
International users outside Australia also cannot share Australian news.
“The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” Facebook regional managing director William Easton said.
“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter,” Easton added.
The announcement comes a day after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg described as “very promising” negotiations between Facebook and Google with Australian media companies.
Frydenberg said after weekend talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Alphabet Inc and its subsidiary Google, he was convinced that the platforms “do want to enter into these commercial arrangements”.
Frydenberg said he had had a “a constructive discussion” with Zuckerberg after Facebook blocked Australian news.
“He raised a few remaining issues with the Government’s news media bargaining code and we agreed to continue our conversation to try to find a pathway forward,” Frydenberg tweeted.
But communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the government would not back down on its legislative agenda.
“This announcement from Facebook, if they were to maintain this position, of course would call into question the credibility of the platform in terms of the news on it,” Fletcher told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
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Microsoft backs Australian plan to make Google pay for news
Canberra (TIP): Microsoft said on Wednesday it supports Australia’s plans to make the biggest digital platforms pay for news and would help small businesses transfer their advertising to Bing if Google quits the country.
Microsoft has been positioning itself to increase market share for its search engine Bing after a Google executive told a Senate hearing last month that it would likely make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government goes ahead with a draft law that would make tech giants pay for news content.
Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement that he and Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella had told Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher in an online meeting last week that “Microsoft fully supports” the so-called News Media Bargaining Code.
Morrison this week confirmed he had spoken to Nadella about Bing replacing Google in Australia.
“I can tell you, Microsoft’s pretty confident” that Australians would not be worse off, Morrison said on Monday.
Smith said he had assured the government leaders that small businesses who wished to transfer their advertising from Google to Bing could do so simply and without transfer costs.
“We believe that the current legislative proposal represents a fundamental step towards a more level playing field and a fairer digital ecosystem for consumers, business and society,” Smith said. The Australia Institute’s Center for Responsible Technology, an independent think tank, welcomed Microsoft’s stance and called on Google to withdraw its threat to close its search services within Australia. “This is a significant development and should send a message to both Google and Facebook that their network dominance in Australia is only as strong as their respect for Australians,” the center’s Director Peter Lewis said in a statement. AP