The journey of Dave Sharma: from Australia’s first Indian-origin MP to a Senate seat

Dave Sharma, who won the New South Wales Liberal Senate election in 2019 and became the country’s first lawmaker of Indian descent, plans to rejoin politics.

According to the Australian Associated Press, Sharma, 47, will take over for retired senator Marise Payne, the former foreign minister. Sharma defeated Andrew Constance, a front-runner supported by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, a former New South Wales (NSW) minister. Sharma served as the Sydney seat of Wentworth’s representative until his defeat in the 2022 election.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Sharma defeated Constance 251-206 in the final ballot, which was cast by members of the Liberal Party of New South Wales.

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The moderates in the party supported Sharma, who was Australia’s ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017.

Declaring that it was an honour to succeed the late Senator Payne, Sharma said, “I would like to thank the party members for the opportunity to hold the Albanese government to account in the Senate over its many missteps and wrong decisions, and to fight for the many households across New South Wales (NSW) struggling to deal with Labor’s cost-of-living crisis.”

He was cited in the report as saying, “Being able to serve in the Senate will allow me to fight for our nation’s national security interests in a time of greater global turmoil.”

Opposition leader Dutton congratulated Sharma on winning the NSW Senate seat and stated that his appointment to the Senate would occur at a pivotal moment.

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“His diplomatic and foreign policy expertise will lend considerable weight and wisdom to the public policy debate given the precarious circumstances in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific,” Dutton said in a press release.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley declared that Dave Sharma was a “fitting replacement” for Payne and added, “Dave Sharma will bring a unique perspective to the Australian Senate.”

2019 saw Sharma write history when she won a seat in a Sydney suburb during the federal election, making history as the first Australian legislator of Indian descent.