An Indian Liberal Party South Australian state election candidate has admitting operating a food truck without council approval.
Amar Singh, who is on leave from his role as a councillor in the City of Marion while standing in the seat of Badcoe in Adelaide’s west, has been running his Flavours On Wheels business since 2022.
But Mr Singh said he did not realise until last year that his own council required food trucks operating on private premises to obtain development approval, and continued to operate after lodging an application.
Mr Singh, who has all the correct food licenses for a food truck, told The Advertiser: “[I’ve] never [been] told by the council to stop it.
“No one from the council came to me. It’s me who found it out that I have to apply for a business site.”
Marion Council confirmed there was a pending development application for the truck, and a spokesperson said council was taking a “pragmatic approach” while considering a retrospective approval, and was “satisfied the business is meeting relevant food safety requirements”.
A Liberal spokesperson said the party supported Mr Singh, and said the food truck had excellent reviews.
“Mr Singh holds all necessary food licensing permits and always receives a clean bill of health from the City of Marion,” they said.
“The only noteworthy matters about Mr Singh’s food truck is that he provides free meals to locals who can’t afford food and holds a 4.9 star Google rating.”
Mr Singh’s candidate profiles states that he and his wife came to Australia 15 years ago and provided free meals during Covid, and he recently shared a photo of himself outside the food truck with Liberal upper house candidate KD Singh.
The Liberals’ third Indian candidate, Sunny Singh, also spoke out this week to accuse locals of racism for saying he shouldn’t be able to run in the seat of Giles because he was born in India.
Earlier this week the South Australian Liberal Party dumped its candidate for Wright in Adelaide’s northeast, Carston Woodhouse, for comments he made on a Christian podcast about Islam, feminism, and so-called transgenderism and same-sex marriage.
According to the latest polling the Liberal Party is facing a complete wipeout in metropolitan Adelaide, and could end up with fewer than five seats in South Australian after the March 21 election.
A Roy Morgan poll from late February had Labor on 35% of the primary vote, One Nation on 28%, and the Liberals on 16.5%, mirroring results in other states and nationwide where conservative voters have flocked to Pauline Hanson’s party due to the Coalition’s weak stance on mass immigration.
Header image: Left, Amar Singh. Right, Mr Singh outside the food truck (Instagram).
