“To better manage the burgeoning population of Australia’s major cities and reduce pressure on their resources, I propose to the government to only grant student visas for regional areas,” says Sunny Chandra, who is trying his luck as an independent candidate for Victoria’s Senate in the upcoming federal elections.
He agrees that this is radical proposal, far more than what the federal government has decided to do. "I know it is radical, but I have thought long and hard about it and I'm sure this will benefit both parties: migrants and regional Australia," explains Mr Chandra.
In addition, he also wants the cap on the grant of permanent visas to be lifted from the current 160,000 to 250,000. But those who are allowed to fill those numbers, should go to regional Australia.
A former IT professional-turned-entrepreneur, Mr Chandra is currently running his migration agency, Sunmarg Migration as a Registered Migration Agent.
“I have zero experience in politics so far. I’ve been busy with work since the last 44 years in Australia. I’m contesting as an independent candidate so it is highly unlikely that a political party will strike a preference deal with me, which makes my ambition to win for Victoria’s Senate even more challenging,” says Mr Chandra who lives in Kyneton, some 100 kms from Melbourne.
He is an advocate for migration to regional areas, albeit a radical one at that.
While the debate rages on regarding the government’s decision to make it mandatory for new migrants to live in regional areas for three years, Mr Chandra feels that if new migrants, especially students are shown regional Australia as their gateway to the country, it’ll be mutually beneficial for them as well as the government.
“When students come to big cities, it’s only cities like Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane that benefit from the money they bring with them. If they were to go to the regional areas, all that money will go there. On the other hand, students should get 20 points instead of the current five for studying in regional areas. This way, it will become attractive for both parties,” says Mr Chandra as he explains his strategy.
Regarding winning the election this May, Mr Chandra has done his math.
“Victoria has 4.2 million voters. Divide that by seven, which is the number of senators in the state, so I need 600,000 votes to become a senator. I can’t meet that many people before May. This is where the Indian community will be helpful for me. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria has 1.7 million citizens born in India. Add to that more people whose parents were born in India. I need 160,000 first preference votes which makes for 4 per cent of the total voters of Victoria. Someone asked me as to who’ll vote for me. I replied that my Indian brothers and sisters will do that,” says a confident-sounding Mr Chandra.
