Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about a matter which has been raised with me by the Victorian chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia. I attended Lunar New Year celebrations recently and they raised an incident with me which occurred on 27 January 2022 at AAMI Park during the World Cup qualifying match between the Socceroos and the Vietnamese national team. In supporting the Socceroos members of the Australian Vietnamese community decided to wear garments such as T-shirts, scarves or hats that carried the symbol of the Vietnamese heritage flag. The flag is of yellow background with three horizontal red stripes in the middle. It is well recognised by federal and state governments. It has even been recognised by councils in Australia and overseas.

There were demands made by AAMI Park security to members of the Vietnamese community that if they wanted to attend the soccer match in support of the Socceroos they had to take their belongings to their cars—bin those scarves, hats and hand-held flags which reflect the old flag of the Republic of South Vietnam, known as the heritage flag. The scarves and hats had the symbol that I have just outlined and they were asked to remove them. During the soccer match authorities in uniform approached and blocked the view of the game of at least one member of the Vietnamese community. The police made requests and eventually took possession of a yellow scarf that a man was wearing around his neck which resembled the colours of the Vietnamese heritage flag.

We know that the Vietnamese community in Australia is proud of their heritage and embracing Australia and our values of freedom and democracy. I'll also mention that Vietnamese soldiers and Australian diggers paid the ultimate sacrifice under the two flags, Australia and the heritage flag, during the Vietnam War. Over the past 47 years under both flags the Vietnamese community has made significant contributions to the Australian community. The Vietnamese community has always been resilient, harmonious and embraces Australian values.

I am puzzled. I don't understand why the Vietnamese community was specifically targeted by authorities not to wear scarves and hats. I think the community is owed answers. I am interested to know what questions were raised, if any, by the Vietnamese government to the Australian government. I also believe fundamentally that there should be a formal investigation and a briefing provided to both the Australian community and those of Vietnamese heritage in Australia. If you can't wear a scarf and reflect a political view then I think we've got a very low bar of respecting our history.