Key Labor candidate says Parliament needs ethnic diversity targets

Jason Yat-sen Li, who will be third on Labor's senate ticket in NSW and could be the key to the party's Senate fortunes, also says Australia should consider investing in China's Belt and Road initiative.

Mr Li has criticised Parliament's lack of ethnic diversity, arguing it does not reflect the population and was shutting out Australia's growing migrant communities.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3 per cent of Australians had a parent born in China and the same amount from India, but not a single child of the more than 1.5 million members of the Chinese and Indian diaspora holds a seat in Parliament.

Inside cabinet the proportion of MPs with one overseas-born parent is only 30 per cent, compared to 54 per cent nationwide.

"As a principle I would love to see Parliament broadly reflective of the Australian population," Mr Li told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age days after being selected as a candidate.

"I like targets because you know you are working towards something and we have a fair way to go.

"I think all institutions of power, whether that be the media or company boards, should be broadly reflective of the Australian community."

Mr Li, who first rose to prominence protesting the rise of One Nation and campaigning for a republic in 1999, was hand-picked by former prime minister Kevin Rudd in a failed tilt for the seat of Bennelong in 2013.

He has returned to politics after running an Australian-Chinese investment firm.

Tally room election analyst Ben Raue said it was conceivable that Labor could secure three NSW Senate seats.

An extra seat in NSW would minimise the gains Labor and the Greens need to make in other states to avoid negotiating with Senate crossbenchers on key legislation if Labor wins the May election.

Mr Li said he had been frustrated by comments that suggested the Chinese community had a uniform view on political issues.

Last week, a recording of Liberal candidate for Chisholm, Gladys Liu, caused controversy after she said members of the Chinese-Australian community felt the LGBTI rights agenda was "ridiculous rubbish."

"You could probably say the Chinese community likes eating rice. But to say from a political perspective the Chinese community believes X - I think that is very difficult," he said.

He said the debate about Chinese political interference in Australia had silenced sections of the community after allegations of bribery, political donations and diplomatic freezes culminated in new foreign interference laws last year.

"This environment now is tremendously disenfranchising for Chinese Australians," he said.

"In defending China or defending their Chinese heritage everybody is very concerned not to be fingered or accused of being a stooge for the Communist party.

"If you feel that if you do speak up and you are going to be accused of being a Communist spy that is an extremely dangerous state of affairs."

He said it was "almost adopting the play-book of the authoritarian regime" if Australia began distrusting its own citizens because of their cultural background.

"If you say Chinese-Australians are vulnerable to influence by the Chinese government you are talking about everyone from recent migrants, to people like me who are born in Australia, to [chef] Kylie Kwong and [former SBS newsreader] Lee Lin Chin," he said.

"I think we need to be a lot sharper with our language."

Mr Li said Australia should capitalise on China's Belt and Road initiative, which aims to connect Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania, through multi-billion dollar infrastructure network, but has been criticised for facilitating China's strategic domination in the region.

"If there is a particular project under the banner of Belt and Road that makes sense for Australia's strategic interest, brings economic dividends, creates jobs and there are no adverse national interest elements, absolutely, we should seize these opportunities," he said.