Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House

(1) express its deep regret at the death on 28 January 2012 of the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue OAM, the Spiritual Leader of the Phuoc Hue Buddhist Monastery and leader of the Vietnamese Buddhist community in Australia;

(2) places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service; and

(3) tenders its profound sympathy to the Vietnamese Buddhist community in its bereavement.

I have had the privilege of knowing the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue for much of the time he has had here in Australia—that is, for some 25 years. I was privileged to represent the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, at the memorial ceremony held on Wednesday, 8 February 2012. I also was at the Phuoc Hue Temple on the occasion of the Tet celebrations—that is, the Vietnamese new year. At midnight on the evening of 22 January I was with my colleague the member for Fowler, who also happened to be present. It was where I learnt that the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was in hospital, and I was saddened to hear it.

Thich Phuoc Hue was born in 1921—I am told by Quang Luu, who has written about him for the Sydney Morning Heraldnear Saigon in Vietnam, although his birthday is formally recorded as 1922. He began studying at the age of 13 and was ordained as a novice at 16. He was later ordained as a Buddhist monk at the age of 20. During his early career he was in charge of the Buddhist secondary school in An Giang province and the Director of Studies at the Buddhist Studies Institute in Saigon.

This is recorded on his CV because he was seen as a very senior leader in the southern Vietnamese community and had played a significant role in the Vietnamese sangha, which resulted in the formation of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. He held many positions of responsibility on the central executive, including Commissioner for Sangha Affairs. After the fall of Saigon, when his church was banned in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, he moved to Hong Kong. He left in 1979 and arrived in Australia, having been sponsored by Australian Vietnamese in 1980. There were some 5,000 or so Vietnamese at that time, but by 1981 41,000 Vietnamese residents in Australia sponsored him as the first Buddhist monk here in Australia. He led Buddhist ceremonies at the Thai temple in Stanmore and aspired to build Vietnamese Buddhism. He established a temple in Fairfield in 1980, and the Phuoc Hue Temple was completed in 1991 at a cost of $3 million. That occurred over a three-year period. He was involved in fundraising and community leadership in this period and he played a similar role in the construction of the Quang Minh Temple in Sunshine in Victoria. In April 1981 he was elected as the first President of the Vietnamese Buddhist Federation at the inaugural conference in that year and was re-elected subsequently. He was the longest serving president of the Unified Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation.

He was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1995 in recognition of his contributions to Buddhism in this country. He was involved in the setting up of the Yellow Lotus printing house for the publication of Buddhist books. The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, visited the Phuoc Hue Temple in 1994 to meet Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu leaders along with Buddhists.

He had a very significant international profile. He was a high-ranking member of the World Buddhist Sangha Council and the World Fellowship of Buddhists. He led the organising committee for the First Executive Conference of the Seventh World Buddhist Sangha Council Congress. He delivered a message of peaceful cooperation at the first International Dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation in Yogyakarta, sponsored by Alexander Downer when he Australia's foreign minister. He visited refugee camps. He assisted poor Vietnamese inside Vietnam with both gifts and support for cataract operations. He supported temple building and the establishment of Buddhist organisations in the United States, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

His outstanding achievements were gained through his devotion, his intellectual energy and his wisdom. These were exceptional qualities and it made me proud to be a friend of his. I was not alone in this admiration. The fact that so many of my colleagues will support this resolution tonight is evidence of that. I note there was a message of condolence on the passing of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue by Cardinal George Pell. He penned these few lines to convey his most sincere condolences:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney joins with the senior Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan, OAM and other senior monks, nuns and lay practitioners who mourn deeply the passing of this exemplary spiritual leader and scholar. On occasions of significant ecumenical and inter-religious activities, the strong support of The Late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue, OAM and his community was keenly felt and much appreciated.

He went on to write:

The Late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue, OAM will remain an inspiration not only the Australian Vietnamese Buddhist Community but to many other Australians as well, recalling his contribution to the life our country with gratitude.

You may suspect that I have known the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue over many years. I greatly admired his leadership and the contribution he made to this nation. I think he was exemplary in terms of all of those values that we think are so important in our multicultural society. The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue advocated harmony amongst nations as well as amongst people. A few years ago ill health forced him to step down from the presidency of the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation. He was succeeded by the Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan, who came to Australia as a Vietnamese refugee in the early 1980s and is now the abbot of the Quang Minh Temple in Melbourne.

The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue has achieved a great deal in his efforts to rebuild Vietnamese Buddhism as part of the fabric of and as a contributor to multicultural Australia. In writing about him, his good friend Tuong Quang Luu had this to say:

There remained, however, one piece of unfinished business. His aspiration to set up a Vietnamese Buddhist Studies Institute in Australia was unfulfilled at the time of his death.

I hope that others may see in that a significant challenge for the future. I hope it can be recognised in the context of the outstanding leadership that the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue has displayed over the 90 years of his life.

I think Australia is an exemplar to the rest of the world through what it has been able to achieve in its tolerance of people who come and settle and are proud to make Australia their home. When you have somebody like the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue, who has achieved so much in his lifetime, you cannot help but admire what we are able to achieve in Australia and give credit to those who have come from across the seas to make Australia their home and have contributed so significantly. I was proud to number the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue amongst my friends and I am proud of what he has been able to do for Vietnamese Buddhism in Australia. I am certainly proud to be able to move this resolution and I think it is a credit that we in the Australian parliament can acknowledge the contribution of such a significant Australian.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Berowra for bringing this matter before the House and I acknowledge his genuine and longstanding commitment to the Buddhist community. The 28th of January this year was a very sad day for Australians but most particularly for the Australian Buddhist community. It marked the passing of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue OAM, who was more than just a religious leader; he was an inspiration to the community and a major contributor to the development of a multicultural society, particularly in south-west Sydney, an area I am particularly proud of.

I have had the opportunity of attending a number of events at the Phuoc Hue Temple since I became the member for Fowler. The Phuoc Hue Temple in Wetherill Park is one of the leading temples in Australia, largely due to the work of the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue and his drive and persistence, and it stands very proudly in Wetherill Park. As the member for Berowra indicated, he and I attended the temple on 22 January to celebrate Vietnamese new year, and that is where I learnt that the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was ill.

As the first Vietnamese resident monk in Australia, the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue's guidance, kindness and leadership shone like a beacon to many Vietnamese families who were trying to cope with the loss and grief inflicted by the Vietnam War. Although I did not have many opportunities to talk with the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue, I did meet him last year and I hold him in great admiration and respect. I acknowledge his legacy of good work.

I would like to reflect on the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue's life. As one of the most influential Buddhist leaders in Vietnam, where he was born and educated, and in Australia—his adopted country—I am sure you would agree that his accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary. The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue learnt about Buddhism in a local temple just outside Saigon. He renounced life at 13. At 16, he became a novice priest and by 20 he was ordained. In Vietnam, the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was also credited with the establishment of several pagodas in the Mekong Delta and in some provinces around Saigon.

The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue arrived in Australia in 1980. He was sponsored from Hong Kong and became the first Vietnamese resident monk in this country. He aspired to rebuild Vietnamese Buddhism not only to serve the religious needs of Vietnamese Australians—mostly refugees—but also to make a genuine contribution to multiculturalism in Australia. On 1 November 1980, he opened the Vietnamese Buddhist hall of prayer in Fairfield. With the support of the Vietnamese-Australian community and the New South Wales government, the hall of prayer grew to become the Phuoc Hue Temple, which stands proudly in Wetherill Park. In April 1981, he was elected the first president of the Vietnamese Buddhist Federation at the inaugural Buddhist conference in Sydney. In 1987, he was re-elected president of the newly restructured national organisation known as the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation in Australia and New Zealand. He was the congregation's longest serving president until he resigned in 2008 because of ill health. The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was also one of the longest serving presidents of the Buddhist Federation of Australia. In 2009, he stepped down from the federation's presidency for the same health reasons.

Internationally, he was a high ranking member and elder of the World Buddhist Sangha Council and the World Fellowship of Buddhists. In 1984, the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue hosted an Australian religious elders meeting at the Phuoc Hue monastery, which was chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Charles, representing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In his capacity as a senior executive of the World Buddhist Sangha Council, in 2001 the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue and the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation met in Sydney and organised the first executive conference of the seventh World Buddhist Sangha Council Congress and the third world general conference of the World Buddhist Sangha Council Youth Committee—essentially for people of all backgrounds to learn about Buddhism. This was a genuine attempt to promote tolerance and understanding by reaching out to the Australian community at large. The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue also advocated harmony among nations, which he expressed as the president of the Buddhist Federation of Australia at its first International Dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation in Yogyakarta in 2004.

In recent years, the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue worked with institutions such as the Art Gallery of NSW, the University of Western Sydney, Victoria University, the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, the World Conference on Religions for Peace and the New South Wales and Victorian governments with the specific aim of promoting peace, harmony, mutual tolerance, multiculturalism and interfaith cooperation to the wider community.

The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was also the most senior Buddhist leader in Australia committed to working not only for the Buddhist community in Australia but also for the development of peace, harmony and wellbeing of all people regardless of faith and ethnic backgrounds. His contribution and hard work were duly recognised and in 1995 he was awarded the medal of the Order of Australia for his services to the community. The Phuoc Hue temple is more than just a sacred place, particularly for Buddhist people; it is also a place of compassion and a place of giving. It is also an iconic feature in the fabric of multiculturalism as it stands in Western Sydney. It shows what can occur when there is commitment and goodwill. Over the years, the Phuoc Hue temple, under the guidance of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue, actively fundraised for both Australian and international charities. Money has been raised for Westmead Children's Hospital and the Queensland flood relief, just to name two.

The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue achieved amazing thing is in his lifetime. Although his passing is a sad loss to the community, his legacy remains in the hearts and minds of so many and his achievements of a lifetime of good and noble work will not go unremarked. His teaching, guidance and leadership brought direction and comfort to the Vietnamese community, giving them strength to make the most of their opportunities and lives in Australia. His work has also created genuine appreciation for the good work and contributions the Vietnamese community as a whole has made to the Australian way of life in their very short history since coming here following the fall of Saigon. The passing of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue is not only a sad loss to the Vietnamese Buddhist community, but it is also a heartfelt loss to Australian society, particularly to those of us who genuinely believe in the tenets of multiculturalism.

The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was a great man and a holy man. I offer my most sincere condolences to all the followers of the Vietnamese Buddhist faith. I say to Thich Phuoc Hue's successor, Thich Phuoc Tan, that I will certainly be there at the temple whenever my assistance is needed, as is known by Thich Phuoc Dat, the manager of the Phuoc Hue temple. No speech can properly sum up the contributions that the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue has made. He will no doubt be remembered as an extraordinary man who has left an extraordinary legacy to his community and to the wider Australian community. In closing, I particularly thank Tanya Huynh and her family for all their efforts in the last 12 months to bring me into broader contact with the Vietnamese Buddhist community of south-west Sydney.

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to support the motion moved by the member for Berowra, that this House expresses its deep regret at the death on 28 January 2012 of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue OAM, the spiritual leader of the Thich Phuoc Hue Buddhist monastery and the leader of the Vietnamese Buddhist community in Australia. This House should also place on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service and tender its profound sympathy to the Vietnamese Buddhist community in their bereavement.

The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue's is an inspiring story of his challenges and achievements in war-torn Vietnam and then in peacetime Australia. Born Tran Van Canh in 1922 in the small farming village of My Thuy in Gia Dinh province near Saigon in what was then French Indochina, he would become one of the most influential Buddhist leaders, not just in Australia but internationally. The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue learnt about Buddhism at a local temple and at the age of 13 he began his education and training. By 16 he had become a novice priest and by 20 he was ordained. His talents were spotted in the early 1960s and he was taken to Saigon to join a leadership group of the national Buddhist clergy. He became a commissioner on the executive committee of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. However, following the fall of Saigon, when the South Vietnamese army surrendered on 30 April 1975, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam was threatened and later banned by the communist authorities. In 1979 he decided to leave his homeland due to religious oppression by the communists and ended up as a refugee in a Hong Kong camp.

We take religious freedom for granted in Australia and we should note that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam remains a one-party state, where religious leaders who protest at the regime's control of religions are arrested and imprisoned. The current head of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam has been jailed several times over the last 25 years; and today remains under house arrest.

Back in Australia, the Most Venerable arrived in 1980 from Hong Kong and became the first Vietnamese resident monk in Australia. He aspired to rebuild Vietnamese Buddhism in Australia, not only to serve the religious needs of the Vietnamese Australian believers, but also to contribute to our multicultural society. This was a consistent theme in the life of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue. He had an innate ability to draw together people from different backgrounds and cultures, promoting harmony and social cohesiveness. Undoubtedly this is why he found his second home in Australia. In April 1981 he was elected the first president of the Vietnamese Buddhist Federation at the inaugural Buddhist conference in Sydney. In 1987 he was re-elected president of the newly restructured national organisation known as the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation in Australia and New Zealand. He was the congregation's longest serving president until his resignation in 2008 because of ill health.

Internationally he was a high-ranking member and elder of the World Sangha Council and the World Fellowship of Buddhists. Through his drive and persistence, he built, or was instrumental in the building of, Vietnamese temples in Sydney, Melbourne, other capital cities of Australia, and in New Zealand. He was the founding abbot of the Phuoc Hue monastery in Sydney, which has become the central focal point for the Vietnamese Buddhist community in Australia and is a place for reflection, worship and contemplation. The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia on Australia Day 1995. He passed away peacefully on Saturday, 28 January 2012 in Sydney. The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was a strong advocate for peace, social harmony and inclusiveness. His achievements are evidenced by the success of the Vietnamese community in Australia, despite their difficult and challenging beginnings. The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue OAM will be remembered for his many years of dedicated service to the local community and his outstanding achievements, which were gained through his devotion, intellectual energy and wisdom. He has left an outstanding example of selflessness which was admired by both the Buddhist community and the general community at large and he has provided an invaluable example for people of all religions to learn from. I extend my deepest sympathies to the Australian Vietnamese Buddhist community at his passing.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

First of all, I would like to pay tribute to the moving speeches by the members for Berowra and Fowler, amongst others, for the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue, probably the most influential Buddhist leader this country has seen. He came originally from Vietnam and had a tremendous influence on his new country of resettlement, Australia. Unlike other people who have contributed to this debate, I have almost no Vietnamese Australians in my electorate, but I have had an interest since university in the Indochinese refugee movement, as it was known then, and I supported Indochinese migrants and refugees coming to Australia in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

Tran Van Canh, as he was then known, was born in a farming village in the My Thuy province, near Saigon, in 1921. He was ordained as a Buddhist priest at the age of 20, became a teacher of novices and laypeople and, in his early 40s, he was taken to Saigon to join the leadership of the national Buddhist clergy. That is an indication of the potential his religion saw in him.

The 1960s and 1970s, as we all know from the footage of those times, were troubling for Vietnam. Buddhism was under attack by the communist authorities. Thich Phuoc Hue had to leave his home, firstly as a refugee in Hong Kong and then as a sponsored migrant to Australia in 1980. He became the first resident monk of Vietnamese background in Australia. There was certainly a great need for him because, in the five years between 1976 and 1981, the Vietnamese population in Australia grew from 2,500 to more than 41,000. It is now 158,000. In 1980, he opened his first Buddhist prayer hall in Fairfield. This grew into what has been described as the Phuoc Hue Temple in Wetherill Park. He did a whole number of things to educate his community about Buddhism in Australia, which I will go through in more detail.

I wanted to particularly focus on something I find absolutely fascinating about what has happened in Vietnam since the fall of Saigon in contrast to here in Australia amongst Vietnamese people. The 2006 census in Australia indicated that 59 per cent of Australian residents born in Vietnam were Buddhist and 26 per cent were Christian. This compares with only nine per cent of people living in Vietnam identifying as Buddhist. What that indicates to me is that the life mission of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was very successful and that the Vietnamese people in Australia had access to their own religion and because of his great intellectual and religious contribution they were able to express their own religion, which, as we know, including great leaders of Buddhism, is suppressed in Vietnam.

The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was an internationally respected dharma master and one of the few Australians to be mentioned in The Seeker's Glossary of Buddhism. His obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald was fittingly titled 'Leader advocated social harmony'. His memory lives through the multicultural and interfaith connections he sought so assiduously and which have been spoken about so knowledgeably by the previous speakers.

The Buddhist temple has many functions—a shelter for society, a meeting place for people of goodwill and a spiritual refuge. In Vietnam and in so many other Asian countries—and now here in many places in Australia—the temple stresses the faith not only as the path to enlightenment but as the core of the Buddhist people's spiritual and cultural life. Vietnamese Australians have contributed so much to Australia, and the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was essential in shaping those contributions. He reminds me very much of the legendary rabbi of the postwar generation Rabbi Chaim Gutnik, who revived belief in the Jewish refugees who came to Australia in their own background and faith. I think that Australia was a better place for him and his activities—religious, cultural and interfaith. We thank him and we will miss him.

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I rise to speak tonight to support the father of the House, the member for Berowra, the Hon. Philip Ruddock, in his motion to celebrate the life of the late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue OAM, who passed away on 28 January 2012. His passing represents a great loss not just to the Vietnamese Buddhist community but to the Australian nation as a whole. The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue's legacy will live on through his many achievements. He will be warmly remembered by the Vietnamese community as one of the pioneers of Vietnamese Buddhism in Australia.

The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue had a long and distinguished career as an educator and spiritual leader both here in Australia and in his homeland, Vietnam. In Vietnam, he was a highly respected Buddhist leader, holding many important positions, including Director of Studies at the Buddhist Studies Institute and Secretary of the Southern Vietnam Delegation to the National Conference of the Vietnamese Sangha. The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue also held influential positions within the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, including Commissioner for Sangha Affairs. The UBCV was later banned by the Vietnamese communist government.

After leaving communist rule in Vietnam, the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue spent many years in a refugee camp in Hong Kong. He did not let his surroundings hinder his passion for education and his faith. By 1980, his migration to Australia was sponsored by a group of Vietnamese-Australian Buddhists. He became the first resident Vietnamese Buddhist monk in Australia. Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to this group. Few would have imagined the great work that the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue would achieve in his lifetime. In Australia, the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue transformed the Vietnamese Buddhist community, uniting them with a common vision of rebuilding Vietnamese Buddhism in Australia and promoting peace and social harmony.

Before his prestigious career in Australia as one of the nation's most influential Buddhist leaders, the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue faced many trials and tribulations, meeting each one with a keen and determined mind and a positive heart. It is a lesson that our communities benefit from and a lesson that I hope we will never forget. We should all follow the example set by the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue and see each challenge before us as an opportunity to learn, to develop our spirit and mind and to reach out to those around us. The late Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue had a profound impact on the Buddhist communities in Western Sydney and across Australia. He was a strong advocate for peace, social harmony and inclusiveness and was the spiritual leader of the Phuoc Hue Buddhist Temple in Wetherill Park, which bears his name. He was the driving force behind this beautiful temple, which was completed in 1991. He had a strong vision to rebuild Vietnamese Buddhism in Australia, not just for the benefit of the Vietnamese community but to contribute to multiculturalism in Australia. The spread of Buddhism has also touched my electorate of Macarthur with the much visited Da Bao Monastery in Wedderburn, just south of Campbelltown. This monastery provides the Buddhist community in Macarthur with a beautiful place of worship and meditation and hosts a number of festivities and celebrations throughout the year.

The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue's vision of rebuilding was not limited to the many beautiful temples and monasteries we see across our electorates today. He was also firmly committed to rebuilding the lives of the many Vietnamese refugees who came to Australia seeking refuge from the war that ravaged their homeland. He helped them make a new life for themselves and helped to build the Vietnamese community into what it is today—a respected, peaceful, productive, and vibrant part of the Australian social fabric. As the first president of the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation in Australia and New Zealand, the UVBC, he had a long and enviable list of accomplishments, both in Australia and internationally. Some of these include the selection by His Royal Highness Prince Charles of Phuoc Hue Temple as a neutral place to hold discussions with Australia's religious leaders from the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist faiths in 1994. In 1995, the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his contributions to the Vietnamese Buddhist community.

On an international scale, the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was a high-ranking member and elder of the World Buddhist Sangha Council. In 2001, he led the organising committee for the First Executive Conference of the Seventh World Buddhist Sangha Council and Congress as well as for the Third World General Conference of the World Buddhist Sangha Council Youth Committee in Sydney. He was also a strong advocate for international peace and cooperation. In his capacity as President of the Buddhist Federation of Australia, he addressed the first international Dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation in 2004 with a strong message of peace and cooperation between nations and people of different faiths.

The Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was a humble and honourable man. He achieved many great works in his lifetime and touched hundreds and thousands of lives. Although he is no longer with us, his memory and his legacy will burn brightly for generations to come. It is an honour and a privilege to be here today with the father of the House to celebrate the life of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue OAM.

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of this motion by the member for Berowra concerning the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue OAM. I associate myself not only with the former words of profound sympathy to the community and deep regret at his passing but also with the theme that went through the contribution of the member for Berowra. Here in the national parliament of Australia we are celebrating the life of a person who was born in 1921 in a village near Saigon, who fled his country, who was a refugee in Hong Kong in 1979 and who was then sponsored into this country to become the first resident monk of Vietnamese background in Australia. We are celebrating his contribution to this country, what he accomplished and the fact that this can happen in Australia.

At the age of 13 he renounced the life of other people, becoming ordained as priest seven years later. Along the road he built up an organisation, a series of institutions that were so important to the community. It is interesting to note that, when he referred to comparisons between Vietnam and Australia, I thought the member for Melbourne Ports was going to go on a different theme. In the 1980s in New South Wales a large amount of excess land was owned by the Department of Main Roads, the Water Board, the railway department et cetera. In that day and age state governments actually contributed this land to pioneering ethnic communities that did not have property or institutions and did not have a way to obtain such properties. That land, like other land in that region, was donated to the Buddhist faith, just as around the corner, also on donated land, is an mosque owned by the Turkish community. It is a reality of this country that we can celebrate the long and distinguished life of a person who not only came from another country and was able to help meet the spiritual needs of his fellows in this country but, with government assistance, could form institutions that were so crucial to them.

It has been remarked upon and it is worth noting that, from 2,400 people in 1976, the number of Vietnamese speakers in this country has grown to 174,000. Back then, of course, it was crucial that they had a monk who could give them counselling and leadership. As others have noted, he played a wider role. It is no accident that Prince Charles went to the Phuoc Hue Temple and rang the bell on a visit that encompassed not only the Buddhist community but other religions. That was typical of the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue's contribution in this country. It is also not surprising that the Dalai Lama visited the temple twice. It is also worth noting that his efforts went not only to the temple at Wetherill Park but to premises in Sunshine and that he played an instrumental role in establishing a variety of organisations in this country, including the Vietnam Buddhist Association of Australia and New Zealand and the Buddhist Church of Vietnam Reunification Australia-New Zealand, and a range of school and religious buildings in Vietnam.

Last Friday, the member for Berowra and I were present at a hearing of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade into the question of human rights. It is no accident that the Unified Buddhist Congregation, of which the Most Venerable Thich Phuoc Hue was a member, was there giving evidence about religious freedom in Vietnam. Quang Luu, who was mentioned by the member for Berowra, was there in another capacity.

We are celebrating not only the individual and the leadership he provided the community but the fact that in this country people with this kind of integrity and ability are there providing evidence before committees in this country and making sure that we as a country learn more about other societies and are aware of what is happening. I take great pleasure in being part of this motion by the member for Berowra.

Debate adjourned.