Tim Watts: Special envoy hails Indian migrants as ‘outstanding citizens’, rejects anti-immigration protests

A government MP tasked with boosting Australia’s Indian Ocean links has declared migrants from the subcontinent make “outstanding citizens” while urging security agencies to closely monitor “extremist” protesters who target them.

The comments from the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs come amid growing coalition infighting over Liberal frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s suggestion last week that Labor was prioritising Indian migrants to bolster its vote.

In his first wide-ranging interview since being appointed to the envoy role in May, Tim Watts has also revealed he will soon travel to India alongside Western Australian Labor colleague Varun Ghosh, a Senator with Bengali heritage.

Mr Watts, who represents a significant Indian community in the Melbourne electorate of Gellibrand, has also lashed out at anti-immigration protestors who singled out Australians with Indian heritage during last month’s nation-wide rallies.

“When I saw those marches, my immediate reaction was, this is not Australia. I genuinely think that those anti-Indian views are held by a tiny minority of the Australian population.”

“There were a lot of extremists that were manipulating those marches and manipulating legitimate anxieties that people have around services and around housing, issues that our government is actively addressing”.

“In recent years, there’s been some very intimidating behaviour by far-right groups targeting individuals in my electorate”.

“I think that law enforcement and our security agencies need to take that very seriously,” Mr Watts warned.

Asked whether he would like to see more Indian migration, Mr Watts insisted the government’s migration policy was “non-discriminatory” but argued Indians are “outstanding Australian citizens”.

According to the most recent Census, the Indian-born population in Australia jumped from 455,389 people in 2016 to 673,352 in 2021, a 48 per cent increase in just five years, representing one of the fastest growing migrant groups in the country.

Earlier this month the Albanese Government resisted widespread pressure to reduce Australia’s migration levels with the Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirming the overall permanent arrival numbers would remain at 185,000 for 2025-26.

Mr Watts, a former Assistant Foreign Minister, has also brushed aside concerns about the Indian government’s growing closeness to China and Russia, insisting Australia’s relationship with the world’s most populous nation has “never been stronger”.

“We’ve never been more strategically aligned. There’s never been more intimacy in the way that we work together particularly in the Indian Ocean region, particularly on defence matters,” Mr Watts told the Nightly.

The Victorian MP, who was dumped from the Albanese government’s ministry after the May election, says he will use his new special envoy role to promote engagement with Indian Ocean neighbours to improve “future prosperity and our security position”.

“All of that economic output coming from Western Australia, leaving those Western Australian ports, relies on secure and safe maritime passage through the Indian Ocean region,” Mr Watts said.

“We want to see an Indian Ocean region that’s peaceful and prosperous and secure, governed by rules, norms and international law… it’s really important for the world’s prosperity.” Despite being demoted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after the May election, Mr Watts insists he’s ready to make a “big contribution” as an envoy, and when asked if he could one day return to the ministry simply replies: “politics is a funny business”.

Next week Mr Watts will join 40-year-old Western Australian Labor Senator Varun Ghosh at the four-day Australia India Youth Dialogue being held in Mumbai and New Delhi, his first trip to the subcontinent since becoming Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs.

Coalition infighting intensifies over Indian migration comments

As the Prime Minister prepares to fly to Honiara for this week’s Pacific Islands Forum, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is continuing to engage with members of Australia’s growing and increasingly powerful Indian community to clean up after Senator Price’s comments

On Monday in Sydney Ms Ley met organisations including the Hindu Council and Council of Indian Australians, while several of her coalition colleagues continued to attack the Northern Territory Senator, for her statement last week.

Senior Liberal Alex Hawke has repeatedly called on the outspoken Shadow Defence Industry Minister to apologise for the “ongoing harm” her recent claims had caused in the growing Indian community.

The former minister for immigration and multicultural affairs under Prime Minister Scott Morrison also rejected Senator Price’s accusations that he had engaged in “cowardly and inappropriate behaviour” towards one of her staff.

Mr Hawke, whose Sydney seat of Mitchell is among the nation’s most diverse, said his colleagues understood that they could have a debate about migration numbers without singling out communities.

He said he feared shortly after Senator Price made the comments on Thursday afternoon that Labor would “weaponise” them for political ends.

“There is real damage now on both sides,” he said on Monday.

“I think if an apology was offered early on and just a quick walk back, that would have helped, but there’s still time.”