Indian community leaders are warning of a potential backlash at the ballot box for the Coalition, after the federal government’s decision to make it illegal for Australians to return from the country.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke is holding a series of “round-table” meetings with Indian-Australians to try and repair the damage caused by the ban and explain the government’s reasons for it.

But one of the participants in Wednesday’s hour-long meeting, Turbans 4 Australia founder Amar Singh, said he was frustrated about the lack of information provided.

“There is going to be a backlash against the government and that’s only appropriate, I think,” he told the ABC.

‘It’s a ban without a plan’

Mr Singh said he had received a number of messages, and seen posts on social media, urging Indian-Australians to vote against the Liberal Party at the next election.

“We’re not bringing strangers in, we’re talking about bringing our mates home.”

The temporary ban on flights from India has left about 9,000 Australians stranded and in the past week, the number of people classified as vulnerable has risen from 600 to 900.

While the ban is due to be lifted on May 15, Mr Singh said it was still unclear how quickly, how many or even how Australians will then be able to return.

“In my opinion, it’s a ban without a plan,” he said.

“They’ve just done a knee-jerk reaction to this.”

Mr Hawke said he could understand why people were feeling upset and acknowledged the “anger and concern” within the community.

He said the pause on flights was giving the government time to expand capacity at the Howard Springs quarantine facility and work out the logistics of repatriating Australians stuck in India.

“In the lead up to May 15, we’re making the preparations we need to make and we’re very confident we’ll be ready to start those repatriations as soon as possible,” he said.

When asked if commercial flights may be able to resume, Mr Hawke said the government would “have to take health advice”.

Before any of that happens, the Federal Court is set to hear an urgent legal challenge to the ban, lodged by 73-year-old Melbourne man Gary Newman, who is stranded in India.

The ban was invoked under the Biosecurity Act which gives the Commonwealth broad powers to do what is necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Constitutional law expert Anne Twomey said the ban was being challenged on several grounds but the most compelling argument, she believed, was that a fundamental human right had been limited.

“So the argument here is that it’s a fundamental, common law right of citizenship that you have a right to return to your country,” she said.

“And so, if you’re going to have a legal power that allows someone to restrict that right, it has to be very clear on the face of it that it is a power to restrict people’s entry to the country.

“I think that’s actually a relatively good argument and one that could get up.”

But Professor Twomey said the last time the High Court considered a challenge to a border closure, brought by mining billionaire Clive Palmer against Western Australia, it sided with the government.

“The court was very, very concerned about the spread of COVID-19, the level of risk involved and it said it should take a precautionary approach,” she said.

“Now if the court took the same approach in relation to this challenge then it would be likely that the challenge would be lost.”

The Federal Court has agreed to expedite the hearing and is expected to set a date by the end of the week.

–ABC