Australia`s parliament counculor is more homogeneous than the UK and New Zealand, and almost exclusively European
A chinese-american researcher found that parliament in australia was more homogeneous than parliament in other comparable english-speaking democracies, arguing that parties should set a target for "cultural diversity" candidates in party primaries.
Think Tank Australia`s China Matters researcher Osmond A new study by Qiu, published by Osmond Chiu, found that only 4 per cent of Australia`s federal counculor is non-European.
"This is embarrassing," he wrote in his study. "
He points out that Asian Australians alone make up 15% of the population.
In contrast,10% of british parliament`s last choice of counculor came from black people or their minority ethnic backgrounds. In new zealand,13% of counculor comes from pacific or asian origin.
Mr Qiu said Australia`s political parties should set a target of 20 per cent of the seats available to candidates from diverse backgrounds. If the parties do not really try to find suitable candidates, the primary should stop.
Several Asian politicians have faced numerous questions in recent years, and the new state`s Chinese political donations have also been targeted by the ICAC.
Liao Chan, a native of Virginia who won the federal parliament seat last year, has been repeatedly questioned by the media and many about her relationship with China`s government.
Qiu believes that transparency in the party`s primary elections is the best way to fight against distrust of Chinese-Australian politicians.
He supported the proposal for a federal ICAC appeal and a cap on political contributions. However, he believed that political candidates should not be investigated by third-party organizations.
"I`m very uncomfortable with some agencies that can censor people running for counculor," he said. "
"We have a constitution for who can run for counculor, and I think the best thing we can really do is, albeit possibly highly transparent, and make the public the ultimate referee. "
