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

I hope the honourable member will be forgiving to me after my speech. Can I just take a moment to say that I do appreciate the member for Gellibrand moving this motion and giving us an opportunity to commend the Vietnamese community for its contribution to Australia. I very much appreciate the importance of the Australian-Vietnamese community, and particularly its association, and I recognise the 40th anniversary.

I thank the honourable member for drawing attention to it, but I hope he will be forgiving of me when I say that I am not sure that he got it quite right. I would encourage him to look at a motion on which I did something that no Labor member can ever do: I crossed the floor on a racism matter in 1988. I did so because I strongly believe in all of the principles that were enunciated here. The first point that was made in the resolution on which I crossed the floor was that the White Australia policy was abolished by Prime Minister Harold Holt. That was the motion moved by Bob Hawke in 1988, and I thank him for doing it. It gave me an opportunity to affirm the principle that I believe in very strongly.

I am disappointed that the member for Gellibrand did not mention the role of the Fraser government. I do not always agree with Malcolm Fraser, and he does not always agree with me, but it was the Fraser government that actually implemented the programs that brought the Vietnamese to Australia. I said some very nice things about a former Prime Minister. I regard him as a great Australian, but he did have some things to say that I would quarrel with. One of them—excuse the expletives—was said in 1975 after the fall of Saigon by Gough Whitlam to Don Willesee:

I'm not having these f..king Vietnamese Balts coming into the country with their religious and political prejudices …

I am glad that we have an approach to multiculturalism which says that people are entitled to their different religious beliefs. They are entitled to their culture. They are entitled to be just as Australian as anybody else. I think the Vietnamese who have settled in Australia have made an enormous contribution to this country.

I well remember the circumstances that led to so many fleeing. I had a dear friend, Duyet Le Van, who was going, under the old Colombo Plan, to Sydney university, studying engineering. I can remember him leaving in my first year at university, going back to Vietnam and telling me he was going back to a tragic situation. I commented on what was happening in Laos and he told me that I should be more concerned about what was happening in Vietnam. I later saw him come back to Australia as a refugee, having returned after the completion of his studies. I saw him become the leader of the Vietnamese community in New South Wales.

I might say a former member for Prospect, Dick Klugman, was asked by Ian Macphee, as minister, to help the settlement process for Vietnamese coming to this country because it was going to be extraordinarily difficult. I think the 200,000 or more who came under the programs initiated by the Fraser government have made an enormous contribution to this country. I acknowledge the South Australian governor. I acknowledge my dear friend Quang Luu, who headed up SBS Radio for a long time. I acknowledge a young lady in my own political party who is ambitious, and I hope we will see her one day in public office—Dai Le. If we look at the enormous contribution that has been made by these people, we should be justly proud.

I thank the member for moving the motion. I am just sorry that it was not a little more balanced to reflect, particularly, the engagement of Malcolm Fraser and his colleagues, who worked so hard against some opposition of the time to put in place the programs that have made this success story possible.

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