Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Bennelong's motion invites the House to recognise the strong history of Chinese migration to Australia over the past 200 years and the significant contribution that Chinese Australians have made over this period to our nation. That is a very easy thing to support because right from the start, when the Chinese first came to make their way economically, to set up businesses, then through the 1840s to the 1890s to labour in farming pursuits, on plantations and in pursuit of gold, and right through to the present day, they have made a great contribution to the way Australia has developed economically and socially and very much identified with the multicultural society that is Australia.

The member for Bennelong's motion goes on to invite us to recognise the vibrant festivities and events hosted by the Bennelong Chinese community and enjoyed by the people of many cultures. I have not had the pleasure of accepting an invitation to those vibrant festivities and events in Bennelong, but I am sure, if those I attend throughout my electorate of Scullin are any guide, that is also a very easy part of the motion to support.

The member for Bennelong indicated that some 16 per cent of the population of his electorate indicate they have Chinese ancestry. In Scullin it is a mere four per cent, or 5,000 people, who recognise their Chinese heritage as being important to their day-to-day lives. I am indebted to two books written by my friend Arthur 'Boon Wah' Yong. One, which he published in 1999, is called Moon Cake and Meat Pies: the history, art and culture of Chinese settlement in the City of Whittlesea. He followed that up with another one, in 2008, called Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea. As he reflected in his first book, Moon Cake and Meat Pies, if we look at those that identify as Chinese they had in fact come from different parts of the world. He listed Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, East Timor, Vietnam, the Peoples Republic of China, and you can add Macau and Taiwan. So you can already see from that the contribution the Chinese have made throughout the globe. Therefore, why shouldn't they have made such a significant impact here in Australia?

In the municipality of Whittlesea, the Chinese date back to the 1850s. In Whittlesea township there are still remnants of market gardens operated by a number of families in the township. The waves of migration that have followed have meant that many people with Chinese ancestry have made their homes in the southern suburbs of the city of Whittlesea. Whether they had come in those early days to provide labour and then went on as they got economic independence to become hawkers and set up shops or whether they have come with great qualifications that have added to academe and to the way in which Australia has developed its many professions and ways of producing things through university and territory education, we recognise and should celebrate through this motion the way in which those people have been accepted.

I was interested in the second book by Arthur, Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea, and to reflect on the circumstances outlined in an article that first appeared in Evelyn Observer on Friday, 21 December 1883. It was a report of actions at the Whittlesea police court earlier that month when certain people had been charged with throwing stones and assaulting Ah Hem and Ah Soung, Chinese market gardeners, from Whittlesea. What really intrigued me was not the crime, but the fact that the two Chinese market gardeners appeared before the court accompanied by Mr James Ah Pow, Chinese interpreter, and the Chinese were sworn in through the 'orthodox fashion by blowing out a lighted lucifer'. When I reflect on the difficulties that have occurred in the acceptance of people from Chinese background later in Australia's history, I find it really something that you can actually celebrate that. In an area that accepted these people because of their hard work, in a court procedure we could also accept something that was traditional to them as people appearing before the court. And, as I have reflected from time to time, I have to express my shame at the way Chinese immigration was prevented by my own political party, but it does show that political parties can learn lessons, can change the way they perceive the value of people that come to Australia, and I think that is important.

The fourth part of the motion invites the House to recognise the unique opportunity for the local Chinese, Korean and broader communities to come together at the Bennelong Cup table tennis test match for an international table tennis competition against Australia. I am happy to support that. I am happy to support that because it represents a continuation of the member for Bennelong's support for table tennis as a relevant recreational and sporting activity for many people in his electorate.

I am also willing to support it because of the reasons the member for Bennelong talked about concerning the strength of ping-pong diplomacy some 40 years ago. I think it is good to remind people of the significance that sport has not only in making sure that young Australians have a direction, that they can see the importance of having disciplines that they can cope with, and that they can interact with people of their own age and with other people, but also to remind people of the power of sport as a geopolitical tool. I think it is a great reminder that we should in a debate like this actually say that there are times when progress is sometimes made in a gentle way by the pursuit of sport, and not necessarily in the way that Nixon was able to use in his diplomatic efforts with the People's Republic of China at the time.

We should really use the depth and breadth of talent that Chinese Australians represent in also including them in forms of diplomacy that will assist where required because they have a different access to a cultural viewpoint that will assist in making sure that we develop in a diplomatic sense into an even more stable world. We should use our neighbours like the People's Republic of China, and perhaps like Vietnam that has a significant Chinese population, to ensure that people understand from different viewpoints the reasons we pursue the democratic institutions we pursue and be able to live in a world full of peace.

In Arthur's book, Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea, he uses a poem that was written by a Chinese immigrant, a person who came to join his daughter in 1998, a very well-qualified person whose wife was a chemical engineer. Both were chemical engineers, highly intelligent with very good qualifications. Since coming to Australia, Jie Ha Wu has used his Chinese culture to open our eyes to calligraphy and to Chinese poems, and on the cover of this book is a poem called Praise of Australiain Chinese calligraphy. In the book the poem is translated and I wish to conclude with this poem. It says:

Flying over the equator and the Pacific Ocean from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere,

The ancient and amazing new continent surrounded by the vast expanse of ocean, the youngest and biggest island country,

Which was founded on democracy and freedom with rich resources and wide territory,

The most and fertile place in the world is Australia.

I think that those sentiments of Chinese Australians are worth following.

See this speech in context