Aussie Parliament's Make-Up Changes With More MPs Of Asian Heritage

Major parties see benefits of having more culturally diverse range of candidates

- Jonathan Pearlman

SYDNEY - The number of Asian-Australian MPs in Australia's Parliament is set to rise to 17 following the conclusion of a landmark election earlier in May, as the major parties eye the electoral and policy benefits of having a more culturally diverse range of candidates.

Though counting after Australia's federal election on May 3 is yet to be completed, the incoming Parliament, including the House of Representatives and the Senate, is expected to include 17 MPs with Asian heritage, or about 7.5 per cent of all 226 MPs.

After the election in 2022, just 10 MPs - or 4.4 per cent of the Parliament's composition - were Asian-Australian, though two Asian-Australian MPs filled vacancies during the term.

Ms Sally Sitou, an MP from the ruling Labor Party whose parents fled from Laos to Australia during the Vietnam War, told The Sunday Times that Australian political parties were increasingly recognising that the backgrounds and diversity of their candidates need to reflect the communities they represent.

Ms Sitou, who first entered Parliament in the 2022 election, won her Sydney seat of Reid in the latest election against an Asian-Australian Liberal candidate, Mr Grange Chung.

"It used to be the exception that we would have some cultural diversity - now it is seen as a real benefit," she said.

"It is about making our politics better for the communities that we represent."

Despite Australia's growing cultural diversity, the federal Parliament is still far from representing the make-up of the broader population.

More than 17 per cent of the country's population of 27 million is Asian-Australian, including more than 1.4 million Australians who have Chinese heritage.