With Victoria’s election approaching, local political parties are actively vying for the support of Australia’s largest immigrant population.

However, the heated debates on national security and immigration, fueled by various parties’ plans to reduce net overseas migration, have led many Indian-Australians to believe that politicians are merely spouting platitudes without truly defending the significant economic and social value of immigrants to Australia.

Many Indian-Australian voters feel overwhelmed by the state’s stagnant economy following the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic and social problems. While many Indian-Australian voters are generally conservative and ambitious, potentially representing a strong support base for the Liberal Party, the political atmosphere and rhetoric of some parties have led them to feel alienated from traditional right-wing parties, as mainstream parties “don’t like people like them.”

Despite the active campaigning by Labor and Liberal Party leaders at large community events like Diwali and their emphasis on the importance of minority votes, community representatives point out that politicians at these events only offer empty rhetoric, failing to explicitly and loudly affirm the genuine economic and cultural value that immigrants bring to Australia in their daily public discourse.

The independent MP Helen Haines remains in a critical condition after being airlifted from Wangaratta in northern Victoria to Melbourne’s Alfred hospital for emergency surgery on Monday night.

A 43-year-old Tarrawingee man alleged to have driven the Toyota Land Cruiser was arrested at the scene. Home affairs minister Tony Burke said witnesses have described the driver doing a U-turn to get into the car park and to ram Helen against a vehicle, then to reverse and do it a second time.

Ricky Jefferies, whose barbershop is next door to Haines’ office, ran from his shop to help after hearing the crash. Jefferies, who returned to work on Tuesday morning, also alleged the driver had a knife on him.

Haines is currently in critical but stable condition. The home affairs minister said the nation’s security agencies and police will be working through what more could have been done to prevent the alleged attack and to help keep others safe. The mayor of Wangaratta, Irene Grant, expressed gratitude to Jeffries for stepping in to stop the man. The man will also face up to ten years of imprisonment.

Within three months of beginning to serve customers, early on Monday morning 12 October, the cafe And Bodega run by Ashish Sharma and Manali Purohit was severely damaged in a suspected arson attack that gutted the tobacco shop next door that had opened in recent weeks.

The day after the firebombing, about $5,000 worth of technology and equipment was stolen from the burnt-out cafe. When the couple entered the shop after the robbery, Sharma says it felt as if their “dream had been ripped away”. It comes amid a spate of firebombings targeting tobacconists across Melbourne, with hundreds hit since late 2023.

Emergency services were called to respond to reports of an explosion on St Georges Road at about 3.40am on Monday. Police investigators believe one or multiple offenders forced entry into the tobacco shop and set it alight. The tobacconist was completely destroyed, while And Bodega and other neighbouring businesses were damaged, police said in a statement. The Victorian Coalition this week said the state government’s new closure powers “had barely made a dent” and vowed that if elected next month it would bolster laws and increase police presence to close down illegal retailers.

The couple have set up a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for repairing and replacing equipment, paying outstanding staff and supplier costs and planning a new home for And Bodega. Purohit, who grew up in Mumbai and trained as a pastry chef in India, says the couple have also received offers from fellow small businesses to donate portions of their profits to the couple, host fundraisers and drop off ice-cream.