David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Vietnamese community plays a big part in making my electorate of Banks the richly diverse and vibrant place that is. At the forefront of this is a great organisation, Vietnamese Community Australia, which makes an outstanding contribution not just in Banks but right across the nation. In April I attended a reception hosted by Bankstown City Council that paid tribute to the outgoing president of Vietnamese Community New South Wales, Mr Than Nguyen, and welcomed the incoming President, Dr Thang Ha.

I commend Mr Nguyen for his leadership and for the enthusiasm he has shown at the helm of the organisation. Mr Nguyen has played an influential role in creating and renovating several monuments to the Vietnamese people across Sydney. He has also led the organisation to raise very large amounts of funds to assist victims of natural disasters right across the world.

I would also like to congratulate Dr Thang Ha on his appointment as the new president of the organisation. Whilst he has big shoes to fill, Dr Ha has already contributed so much to the organisation and our community and I know he will do a great job in the role. Dr Ha has already shown he will build on the great work of the organisation by leading VCA to raise $92,000 for action aid to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and I look forward to supporting the organisation during this important period. I would again like to commend VCA on its tremendous work in our community.