House debates

Thursday, 25 May 2023

Statements by Members

Cambodian People's Party

1:34 pm

Photo of Julian HillJulian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Last week a local paper in my electorate asked me for comment on the establishment of a branch of the Cambodian Chamber of Commerce in south-east Melbourne, so, curious, I looked into it. Surprise, surprise, it's just another front for Cambodian dictator Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party! A little bit more foreign interference in our suburbs! Of course, the elected president in Melbourne strenuously denies this—he's just a businessman. Unfortunately, photos surfaced of him decked out in party uniform alongside Kim Santepheap, the notorious head of the CPP working group for Australia and New Zealand.

They've also set up, I think last week, in Sydney. The Chamber of Commerce is headed in Cambodia by Kith Meng, a CPP stooge and head of the Royal Group, who's made a career out of illegal logging and kicking villagers off their own land. Kim Santepheap was in Australia for these launches. He tried his best this time to keep out of the photos—but, bad luck, mate, we've got you on camera there in Melbourne next to Lau Vann. Speaking of Lau Vann, where did all those millions of dollars in property come from? Surely nothing to do with his positions in Brigade 70, a notorious military unit in Cambodia linked with illegal logging, forced evictions and political assassinations. These people are solely in our country to stir up divisions in the Australian-Cambodian diaspora community. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Kim Santepheap should not be granted visas to come to Australia.