The following letter has been sent out to the Premier of Victoria by ATBC.
RE: Herald Sun, Melbourne 10 February - ‘Racist rants made by Labor staffer Mr Jasvinder Sidhu’.
As the president of the Australian Turkish Business Council, I write this letter to express that we as a council, as business operators, professionals and members of the Australian Turkish Community are proud Australians and Victorians. However, we are deeply troubled by the racist hate speech made by the Labor staffer Mr Jasvinder Sidhu against the Turkish community amongst others. We condemn such baseless and factually incorrect allegations that incite hatred in our multicultural Australia which inevitably creates division within the wider Australian Community.
Australians of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot origin have made a significant contribution to Australia which we have adopted as our home. This community have been instrumental in all aspects of Australian life and we have been there during catastrophes such as the recent bushfires that engulfed the nation. Contrary to Jasvinder Sidhu’s comments, the Australian Turkish and Turkish Cypriot community have been involved on the ground support and have raised huge amounts of financial aid to support bushfire victims, including this council.
We all have a responsibility to ensure that Australia’s multicultural values continue in a successful way by protecting the present and the future for our children and their children. You as Premier of the State of Victoria have been bestowed with the ultimate responsibility of creating such multi-cultural harmony and we applaud your personal views and efforts of the past.
In order to right the wrong, we request that you demand a public apology from Jasvinder Sidhu, and that Senator Jess Walsh also issue an apology condemning Jasvinder Sidhu’s comments. We also encourage you to conduct an internal review of the Labor party, of which many of our community are members, to ensure that persons of such views do not hold positions of influence.
We look forward to your response, so we are able to communicate it to the Australian Turkish and Turkish Cypriot community.
Yours Sincerely
Muradiye Marie Selvi
Consultant Psychologist M.A.P.S
PRESIDENT – AUSTRALIAN TURKISH BUSINESS COUNCIL