David Van (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 15 April this year, two young women from the University of Melbourne were walking along Elizabeth Street in Melbourne, in my home state of Victoria, when they were assaulted because of their race and ethnicity. To these two students I would like to say: we stand with you. A week later, a family in Knoxfield, in the electorate of Aston, woke twice in one week to find the words 'leave and die' and 'COVID-19 China die' graffitied on their garage. Someone also threw a large rock through their front window. To Jackson and your family I would like to say: we stand with you. Earlier this month, in Carnegie, a manager of a bubble tea shop was verbally abused while at her place of work. When she politely stood up for herself she became the target of anonymous threatening phone calls and text messages. To Jennifer I would like to say: we stand with you. To all families and individuals, business owners and international students who have faced racist attacks in Victoria and across Australia because of the coronavirus pandemic I would like to say: we stand with you.

These unprovoked attacks are just a small sample of the increased racism being experienced by some Victorians. Unfortunately, more recently these attacks are not so unique. It troubles me that I could spend this entire time listing instances of racism that have occurred in my home state over the past month. My heart breaks when I put myself in the shoes of those facing these attacks, to imagine what they would be feeling and what they are going through. It is just unfathomable to me, yet it has become the reality for some.

It troubles me that as we grapple with the challenges of Coronavirus, coming together as a nation, many Asian Australians face daily the fear of being the target of racist attacks. They should not have to. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their homes and their communities. When we say the words 'we're all in this together', as we all have, the reality is that some face underlying challenges that they simply shouldn’t need to face.

In the short time that I have I would like to touch on an issue that was brought to my attention by a constituent who is of Australian Chinese heritage. It's an issue that many may not understand at first glance but highlights that our choice of words and how we discuss coronavirus are something we should be mindful about. Calling COVID-19 'the China virus' is trying to blame a people for a virus that could have appeared anywhere. Pandemics have appeared and do appear in many different countries. Australia is right to call for an independent inquiry. All nations affected by this disease should back international calls for an inquiry. An inquiry should be called in to any event that affects the world to the extent that COVID-19 has, but that should happen regardless of where it arises.

When we seek answers about where the root of these racist attacks in Australia stem from, it seems that a small number of people hold prejudices and cannot separate Australians of Asian heritage from what we believe are the origins of coronavirus. As my colleague in the other place the member for Chisholm, Gladys Liu, aptly said, the coronavirus is not for Chinese Australians to answer for. I couldn’t agree more with the member for Chisholm. Nor is it the responsibility of any private citizen living their daily life in what is one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world.

In time, when we are not dealing with a pandemic, what will be needed is an independent review of the coronavirus outbreak, which has caused health, economic and social impacts that are unprecedented, in our lifetimes at least. We believe that, in time, an honest assessment of events will be critical to learning important lessons and to improving our response to future events such as another pandemic. The desire for an inquiry is not a political manoeuvre whatsoever. It is about knowing what went wrong, what we can do better and how can we strengthen our public health policy for the better. What this inquiry is not is an attempt to push away nations or to divide people. The global recovery will require all countries, including China, to come together.

Recently I hosted one of my regular roundtable engagements with foreign diplomats of the Victorian consular corps to discuss the coronavirus crisis and the challenges that they and many of their diaspora are facing. In amongst the issues around international students, tourists trying to get home, working-holiday backpackers and the repatriation of their citizens, some of the consuls-general raised concerns about the rise in racist attacks against members of their communities in Australia. In particular, I must acknowledge Mrs Mazita Marzuki, the Consul-General of Malaysia, and Mr Long Zhou, the Consul-General of China, for their personal and ongoing engagement with me on this issue. I recently had a conversation with the ambassador for Singapore also, knowing that some of his citizens have been attacked as well. I recently posted letters to editors in newspapers in Singapore and Malaysia and I thanked them for looking at how we are facing this issue.

It saddens me those who represent our neighbours and partners in the region are seeing this ugliness. These are not the values Australia promotes. It does not represent who we are as a people. It is completely against the modern, accepting and open society that Australia is known for. Our acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, Minister Tudge, who is also the member for Aston, has said:

We have one of the greatest multicultural countries in the world, where we welcome people from across the planet to our shores, and in doing so, we've all been enriched. And we encourage tolerance.

As a government, we have worked quickly to address these racist attacks.

In order for us to get back on track as a nation, we must come together and we must tackle this virus together. All people of Australia, whether you arrived here recently or whether your family has walked these lands since time immemorial, should never have to accept aggressive acts towards them, let alone based on their heritage. I utterly condemn all racist attacks and behaviours against people in Australia. All Australians are in this challenge together, and only together will we get through this.