Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to inform the House about an important community endeavour for a Chinese-Australian war memorial in my electorate. The Chinese community is a significant and valued part of Queensland’s and Moreton’s communities and I have spoken in this House previously about their ongoing and welcome contributions to society, business and culture. What I have not addressed before in the House is the past and present involvement of Chinese-Australians in the Australian defence forces.

Chinese-Australians made significant contributions during the Boer War, the First World War, the Second World War, the conflict in Malaya, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and many other conflicts around the globe. There are no records of exactly how many Australian-Chinese have served in our armed forces, but we know many Chinese-Australian citizens have a proud history with the Australian armed forces. The Australian-Chinese community has a strong connection and one that should be celebrated and honoured. I intend to do that in my electorate.

One of Australia’s greatest World War I heroes was Chinese-Australian citizen Private William Edward Sing, known as ‘Billy’ by his digger mates. Billy Sing was a sniper with the Australian 5th Light Horse Regiment and is conservatively credited with more than 150 kills in Gallipoli. It is easy to see why he was also known to his fellow soldiers as ‘The Assassin’. Like many great soldiers from the Great War, Billy was from the bush. Billy grew up in Clermont in central Queensland, where, as a kangaroo shooter—as my dad once was—and member of the Proserpine Rifle Club, he developed his craft as a sniper. The Australian Light Horse Association describes one of Billy’s typical days in Gallipoli as:

… locating and setting up in a pre-dawn position, maintaining strict discipline regarding concealment, camouflage and movement, and staying put until after dark, before extraction from his position.

The Australian Light Horse Association explains that the job of sniper ‘was not a job for fidgeters’ and Billy was no fidgeter. He was described as a ‘methodical man’ who was exemplary in his commitment to his job. So effective was Billy that he took out nine unfortunate Turkish soldiers in one single day. The Australian Light Horse Association says that his ‘uncompromising commitment and businesslike approach impressed the British commander, General WR Birdwood, and other senior officers’. In fact, so renowned had Billy and his rifle become that his exploits were reported in British and US papers at the time. Billy Sing is regarded as an ANZAC legend. In fact, one of the Australian Defence Force’s observation towers in Iraq bore Billy’s name in honour of his exploits. You might say he lived up to that old Chinese proverb: ‘You kill one man, you terrorise a thousand.’ Private Billy Sing was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for ‘conspicuous gallantry as a sniper at Anzac’.

Of course, many other Chinese-Australians have served this country—soldiers like Private Caleb Shang, who became the most highly decorated Chinese-Australian soldier because of his actions in the horrific Battle of the Somme. I am committed to establishing a Chinese memorial in the middle of my electorate at Sunnybank, which is right in the heart of our Chinese community on Brisbane’s south side. We are in the early stages of planning this memorial, but it already has strong support from the Chinese community and the local Sunnybank RSL. The memorial will be a local gathering place and focal point for commemorative services and a place to honour the military contributions of Chinese-Australians when we gather to commemorate the exploits of our service personnel on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day and on the anniversaries of other significant battles. This memorial will also serve to encourage more Australian-Chinese to be involved in the national memorial services and maybe also to join our defence forces.