Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to the contributions that Vietnamese Australians make to our country and, in particular, my community of Hotham. This year, in 2015, we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the arrival of Vietnamese refugees to Australia. After Saigon fell in 1975, tens of thousands of Vietnamese people made their way to Australia, fleeing persecution after the war. Many thousands arrived by boat. They gathered their families, taking all they had in the world and set sail on rickety, crowded vessels. They were desperate. I believe it was one of the great and noble acts of Australian history that we welcomed them. It is Australia that has been the great beneficiary, because we know that these migrants wasted no time rebuilding their lives in Australia.

My electorate of Hotham has played a particularly significant role in welcoming these Vietnamese migrants. The Enterprise Migrant Hostel in Springvale opened in 1970 and it provided thousands of Vietnamese migrants their first Australian home. They took English classes, were helped to find employment and were supported while they found their feet in a new country. On moving out of the hostel, many located themselves nearby in Springvale and surrounds. Today, 40 years on, more than 7000 people living in my electorate of Hotham were born in Vietnam and many thousands more are descended from Vietnamese migrants. We benefit so much from the contribution that this community makes. The shopping strip in Springvale Road offers the tastes and smells of Vietnam; we are blessed with Vietnamese markets, temples, films and art. We have learnt so much from the values that are held dear by this community—things like the primacy of family, the importance of spirituality and, of course, of achievement. We see lots of Vietnamese names among the high achievers in schools right around Hotham.

The Vietnamese have built incredible community groups and have invested hugely in the development of Springvale, in particular. I want to mention the Springvale Asian Business Association and the Springvale Indonesia-Chinese Mutual Assistance Association as two such groups where Vietnamese Australians have played an important leadership role. The lunar new year is one of the biggest festivals held in our area; we see 80,000 people come every year to Springvale. The Tet Festival is another fantastic event, which is held just outside my electorate and which showcases Vietnamese culture to the rest of the community.

As a sign of the Vietnamese community's affection for Australia, plans are afoot to build a memorial for Australian soldiers who died in the Vietnam War. The community is also developing a soup kitchen and donating $½ million to the Royal Children's Hospital. (Time expired)