Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the weekend I was proud and honoured to join with local members of my community and the Vietnamese Community in Australia Queensland Chapter to celebrate their 45th anniversary of settlement. You can see the badge I'm wearing, which I proudly wear in the parliament of Australia today. It was a presentation from the community for this significant event. For many Vietnamese who have arrived in Australia over the past decades this occasion is really one of deep reflection and, for many, a period of mourning. The Vietnamese Australians that I represent—and I note that the member for Fraser, who is a strong advocate for Vietnamese Victorians, is in the chamber today—left behind the country they love and the families that were torn apart, and this country welcomed them with open arms. After thousands of South Vietnamese were forced to flee encroaching communist forces in 1975, many arrived and settled in Australia. The suburbs of Inala and Darra in the electorate of Oxley were especially welcoming to these new arrivals, and I'm proud to say today that many of those families still call those suburbs home.

The words loyalty, perseverance, caring and kindness are the words that I choose to describe Vietnamese Australians. They are a proud group of Aussies who love this country but have never forgotten the country that they left behind—the country they were forced to leave by the communists, who still today are torturing and holding people in detention without trial and without justice. I want to extend my thanks to Vietnamese Australians for the extremely warm welcome that they've given me, first as the councillor and now as the federal member for Oxley, but also for the extraordinary contribution that they've made to our cultural life and to our economy through a whole range of endeavours. Vietnamese Australians are a wonderful success story.

I want to extend my sincere congratulations to my great friend, the president of the Vietnamese Community in Australia Queensland Chapter, Dr Cuong Bui OAM. Dr Bui and his wife, Dr Kim Bui, are remarkable Australians. Dr Bui suffered his own health issues recently and was injured, but he was standing there proudly representing the community on Sunday at the event that I attended. He has given hours of effort and advocacy to represent Vietnamese Australians in Queensland and right across the country to make sure that their voices are being heard in this chamber and in other parliaments across Australia. While celebrations may have been a little smaller due to restrictions to safeguard the community from COVID-19 it was critical that we continued to commemorate the sacrifice made by so many Vietnamese in coming to Australia and the hard work and dedication that have made them such a valued part of our community.

The Vietnamese community will never give in to the oppression of the communist regime and will never stop fighting against those who continue to deny human rights to the Vietnamese people. Human rights violations are continuing to happen every single day, with the Vietnamese government regularly convicting and imprisoning journalists and activists for the 'crime' of speaking out for truth and justice. Just last week I joined many members of parliament as I participated in the world's largest human rights event right here in Parliament House with Amnesty International. Chau Van Kham, who I've been advocating for years, is an Australian detained in Vietnam for his political beliefs. I met again with his wife and expressed my concern and calls for the Australian government to put maximum pressure on the Vietnamese government to have him released. I'm proud to stop and remember the courage and resilience of the Vietnamese community in Australia and to remember the ongoing fight for a free, fair and democratic Vietnam.

Last week I was honoured to attend the Riverlife Baptist community church, who put together a Christmas dinner for international students who are not only away from home this Christmas but have been struggling to afford to pay their rent and their university fees because they've been out of jobs. This government has left many international students behind. There has been no support from JobKeeper or JobSeeker. There has been no income support for many students that are studying in this country and who through fault of their own are unable to return home. But thanks to organisations like Riverlife in my electorate—that wonderful church with Pastor Robyn Robertson, who has been such a champion in standing up for the rights of people who don't have a voice—we were able to gather on Friday evening to give them an Aussie Christmas, a Christmas they are unable to spend at home with some of their families. I'll continue to speak out for many of these international students. Not only is it the right thing to do; it's also the right economic decision to make. The international student market is Queensland's third-largest export, and as we move safely towards a vaccine we need to restart our foreign and international student market and ensure that those students are warmly welcomed into this country—not tossed aside, not left behind, but included in our community. So thank you to Riverlife for all the work that you've done.

I also want to thank all of our emergency service personnel, all of our volunteers and all of the wonderful members of the Oxley community who have pulled together during this year. The year 2020 has been like no other, as we've heard time and time again. But I'm proud to see that my community has really pulled together to make sure that people have looked after one another.

Thanks to the Queensland government—led by the Premier of Queensland and one of my state members, Annastacia Palaszczuk—Queensland has led the way, despite fierce opposition from members of the Morrison government and from Premier Gladys Berejiklian. She stared them down. She made sure that Queenslanders' health was put front and centre. We had a litany of those from the Prime Minister down to ministers in the cabinet of Australia, bullying and demanding that the Queensland Premier open her state's borders. Well, she defied them, and she listened to what Queenslanders wanted and ensured that their health and economic safety was put forward.

The impact on small businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Oxley electorate has been tragic for some 13,000 businesses. We've seen many local businesses suffer. I want to acknowledge all of my state members: Jess Pugh, the Member for Mount Ommaney; Charis Mullen, the member for Jordan; Lance McCallum, the member for Bundamba; and Leeanne Enoch, the member for Algester. All of them have worked incredibly hard, with their offices and staff, to look after our community by visiting business owners, supporting their families and giving the utmost support and respect to all of the community workers who have delivered support during this unprecedented time. I've never been prouder to represent the south-west suburbs of Brisbane and Ipswich than when I have seen my local community rise to the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak over the past few months. It has been simply remarkable. We've had so many community groups, businesses and organisations contact my office, looking for innovative ways to help those in need. By working together, we've seen many vulnerable Australians, who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks, being heard and supported and cared for during this difficult time. On behalf of everyone who has received your support and care during this time, I thank you and salute you.

I want to mention the incredible dedication of the community groups, churches and emergency relief centres who have stepped up to the mark and supported our community. To all of our churches and volunteers, particularly as we head towards the Christmas season, when the demands are strong and the demands are high: I know our churches and our faith leaders will continue to offer the support of friendship and the hand of generosity. So thank you to all of our community for looking after each other.

That level of care and dedication is exactly what Australia needs. We need initiatives that look after all Australians—and do not forget the 40,000 Australians who are still stranded overseas but were promised by the Prime Minister that they would return by Christmas. As Labor MPs, on this side of the chamber we will always prioritise to make sure that Australians are getting back into jobs, students are getting back into schools and the economy is getting back on track and families are in a better place than they were before.

It's been an honour to be the federal member for Oxley this year, to see firsthand how generous our community is. Some in my community do it tough, and they are battlers. But I know that it is due to the generosity and care of so many that they have got through this pandemic so well. We're not out of the woods yet. We've still got a long way to go. But I know that, by working together and supporting each other, we'll continue to make our community a stronger, safer and more inclusive place to live.