Picture with federal minister tells 1000 words when it comes to migration

An Indian Australian migration agent got a photograph with a federal minister – an image valuable in his business.

Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, migration agent Harjeet Chahal and Victorian Minister Lily D'Ambrosio at the $1000-a-head Labor fundraiser on October 2.

For Harjeet Chahal, it was a grand well spent.

Not only did the Indian Australian migration agent get to spend three hours with Andrew Giles at a private dinner, but he also scored a happy snap.

There’s nothing particularly glamorous about the photo. It just shows Chahal and the federal Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister and Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio standing against a wall and smiling.

But in Chahal’s business, the image is so valuable it makes the $1000 he spent buying a seat at the Labor fundraiser to raise election donations for D’Ambrosio look cheap.

Chahal runs Aussizz Thomastown, one of biggest migration agencies specialising in visas for Indians wanting to live, study and work in Australia. So the chance to pose for a photo with the Albanese government minister in charge of the nation’s visa system was as valuable as the conversation around the dinner table in outer Melbourne.

Photos showing Chahal, Giles and D’Ambrosio together, and a detailed summary of the October 2 private dinner, were quickly posted on Aussizz’s Facebook page. A few days later, the $1000-a-head dinner was the subject of stories in Indian newspapers.

Migration agent Harjeet Chahal's Facebook page displaying images of him with federal Minister Andrew Giles and Victorian Minister Lily D'Ambrosio at the $1000-a-head Labor fundraising dinner on October 2

Agents also posed for photos with Giles at another Victorian ALP fundraiser on October 16 at the Gaylord Indian restaurant in the city on October 16.

Multiple figures within Melbourne’s Indian community say migration agents believe that the cost of attending a Labor fundraiser, even one charging $1000, is a small price to pay for the chance to meet the Immigration Minister and lobby him for visa changes that could ultimately benefit their business.

But, these figures say, it’s the photos that are really good for business. One, who has a detailed understanding of how the Indian Australia migration agents operate here, said migration agents used the photos to attract business.

“They (Indian community members) are desperate for their visas, and if the agents say ‘Andrew Giles is my friend’ this is very big for them in the market,” the figure said.

In the eyes of many in the Indian diaspora in Australia, the Immigration Minister was considered the most powerful political figure in the country.

“If Lily did her fundraising without the minister it would be maybe $50 a seat,” the figure said. “But as soon as Andrew Giles comes, the tickets sell for a lot more.”