Keith Wolahan (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A few days ago we saw the horrific news of a grandmother killed, murdered, in front of her granddaughter. The alleged perpetrator is a teenager. For many in my electorate, in Victoria and in Melbourne, this brought back an eery comparison to an alleged murder that happened in my electorate three weeks ago, when a young doctor, Dr Ash Gordon, was murdered defending his home. I want to speak about Ash Gordon, because too often focus is on the crime and the horror of it and what needs to be done next, and that must happen, but we must never forget the gaping wound that has been left in the families of two wonderful people.

Dr Ash Gordon was only in his early 30s when he was killed. His whole life was ahead of him, and he was just starting. He grew up in Hazelwood North. He studied medicine at the Monash School of Rural Health. He became a GP at Box Hill Superclinic, just outside my electorate. He didn't just satisfy himself as a doctor there; he had a flair for small business as well, so he opened a cosmetics clinic in Richmond.

His funeral was held recently, and I've read many of the eulogies given for him by his family and by his friends. It was devastating to hear. His friends described him as a hard-working, compassionate larrikin. A woman who was diagnosed with advanced melanoma after giving birth said he saved her life. Glenn Gordon, his father, said:

You were achieving so much. I boasted constantly that my son is a doctor. We were incredibly proud of everything you achieved in your time here.

We will speak your name often and keep your memory alive.

And that's so important—to speak people's names. Ash Gordon. Ash Gordon. His name should be in our Hansard and should be in our hearts. He was someone who didn't just strive to better himself; he strived to better our community and to serve others. His sister Natalie Gordon said:

Ash's energy was like none other. He had the ability to lift the mood in the room with his infectious laugh.

He wasn't just a respected doctor with a heart of gold; he was described as a true gentleman—intelligent, honest and compassionate. He cared deeply for his patients, his family and his friends. He was also extremely brave. Too often we have seen break-ins, particularly in my community. I've had many people come to me and say they have noticed an increase in property crime and violent property crime. Any violent crime doesn't just end there; it leads to other consequences, like this. When he found out that his house, his home, had been broken into, his sense of justice and his courage for not letting people get away with that meant that he chased them down. A court will decide what exactly happened and the appropriate punishment, but we mustn't forget that this happened in 2024 in suburban Melbourne. A young doctor had his home invaded, and he paid the price with his life. Dr Ash Gordon, you were loved. You served our community. You will be deeply missed by your family and friends, and your name will not be forgotten.

Mr Deputy Speaker, every year at lunar new year we recognise a particular animal. This one it's a fictitious one—although my son might correct me on that—the year of the dragon. The year of the dragon symbolises strength, courage and prosperity. I really enjoy this time of the year in the Chinese community in my electorate. It's a significant community, 27 per cent of my electorate, and I particularly enjoy this time with them because it's about family and community and about celebrating each other and showing gratitude for what they have in the lives they have built for each other. It's a time to get together to show unity and friendship and to work hand in hand to create a special future.

The year of the dragon is a particularly auspicious year. It's actually a particular type of dragon, the wood dragon, and was last seen in 1965. The year begins on 10 February and concludes on 28 January 2024. There are many symbols associated with the year of the wood dragon: power, nobility, honour and luck. It's associated with other attributes, but two that stand out for me are courage and protection. I just spoke about the courage that Ash Gordon showed in protecting his community, his family and his friends. That's very important. Ash lived in Doncaster, and Doncaster is an area, for those who know Melbourne well, that is often considered the head of the dragon. Doncaster means a lot to the Chinese community, as does Box Hill and, indeed, the whole of my electorate.

I want to acknowledge, in particular, members of the community who take the time to look after each other. They organise events and dinners. Those of us who organise events like that know it's hard work. You've got to chase people up, make the bookings, promote the event and invite people to come along—people like me, which I'm very grateful for. I'll just single out some who have held events recently. One that is actually coming up will probably be the biggest lunar new year event in our community. The Asian Business Association of Whitehorse will be holding its lunar new year event, and it is an event without peer. Over a hundred thousand people from the community gather for that event, and I look forward to being there all day and celebrating it in Box Hill. I want to single out Bihong Wang, the president, and Vice President Richard Shi. You are not only people who serve that association and your community but excellent advocates. I appreciate your feedback to me about many issues, including an issue that affects many small businesses, many of your members: crime. It is an issue that has particularly affected our community lately.

Other groups are the Chinese Fellowship of Victoria, whose president is Philip Chui. I see Philip everywhere. He is someone who helps co-ordinate Chinese schools and all of the volunteers on the weekends. He runs contests for singing and art and he also promotes the Victorian education sector overseas—amongst many other things. He does that with a wonderful group of people who I had the pleasure of having dinner with the other night, including Michael and so many others. I really appreciate, and thank you for, your service to our community.

To the Chinese Senior Citizens Club of Manningham and the president, my friend Selina Leung: you have your annual lunar new year event, and I'm really proud to be sponsoring it, as I do every year. You are a victim of your own success, because you're such a large community that there's not enough space to hold everyone at these events. So I'm very proud to help sponsor your lunar new year event in the largest facility that we have in Manningham.

I want to acknowledge the Global Federation of Chinese Business Women, in particular its president, Lily Wang, and its vice president, Tina Curtain. I also want to acknowledge the Melbourne Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and thank Vincent Liu, my good friend, and Andrew Shen. Your work in the vibrant Taiwanese community is greatly appreciated by me.

I acknowledge all of the volunteers who help and support all of the leaders in the communities, but I single out the schools. There are several Chinese-speaking schools in my electorate. I had the great honour of visiting those last year and presented awards at graduation ceremonies. What I noticed, behind the scenes of the teaching, was family members making lunches and dinners, as well as doing all of the logistics and taxi drop-offs and pick-ups. And well done to the students. It's hard enough for me to get my kids to go to school Monday to Friday, but you do it an extra day a week, and that's admirable and one of the reasons we have some of the best schools in the country in the seat of Menzies.

Finally, in terms of the arts, I want to acknowledge the International Sunny Arts Ensemble Association and Jennifer Wang. What you achieved in the Besen Centre last week was just amazing. All of the performers did a fantastic job. Congratulations to everyone and happy lunar New Year.