CANBERRA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Bill Shorten, the leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), has turned to WeChat to address the Chinese-Australian community's concerns in the lead-up to May's general election.
Shorten on Wednesday planned to host a live session on the Chinese social media platform WeChat. Prior to the session, Shorten posted on his WeChat account in Mandarin that he wished "to share Labor's plan, which is also his vision to give everyone a fair go."
It came after electorates with large Asian populations swung away from the ALP in Saturday's New South Wales (NSW) state election, a result that, if replicated, could see the ALP lose two marginal seats.
In a question posed by a WeChat user, Shorten was asked for his position on Asian immigration after Michael Daley, who led NSW Labor to Saturday's election, expressed fears that Asians with PhDs were taking Australian jobs from locals.
Other questions ranged from asking the leader of the ALP, who led the governing Liberal-National Party Coalition (LNP) on a two-party preferred basis according to Newspoll, one of the nation's opinion polls, to "explain Labor's refugee policy" to other topics and so on.
Both Shorten and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have used WeChat to promote their policies during this Parliament but Wednesday's stream is an indication that the platform will have a role in this election campaign.
It is the second time a senior ALP member has hosted a WeChat live stream with Chris Bowen, the party's treasury spokesman, having done so in 2017.
