Wednesday, 20 March 2019

 Mr TAK (Clarinda) (10:12): Thank you to the Minister for Women for hosting the International Women’s Day afternoon tea at Parliament on 7 March. It was wonderful to hear from the inspirational Jill Gallagher and to join together to celebrate the achievements of women and the progress that is being made toward achieving gender equality in Victoria. Ms Siem Eng, Ms Mara Hay and Ms Bou Rachana, three inspirational women from my electorate, presented the minister with a letter from Madame Mu Sochua, vice-president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party. The letter was written from exile after having served more than two decades as Cambodia’s Minister for Women’s Affairs and as a member of the National Assembly. She fled Cambodia in September 2017, following threats of arrest and imprisonment. Just last week she was hit with new trumped-up charges of incitement and treason. In her letter she called on the members of this place to condemn the Cambodian Prime Minister’s repeated orders to crush the opposition. Hun Sen’s actions are direct threats against the safety, security and human rights of thousands of Cambodian women who have voted for change and of hundreds of women elected representatives at the national and local levels.