Wednesday, 8 February 2023

 Danny PEARSON (Essendon – Minister for Government Services, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC, Minister for Consumer Affairs) (10:01): I rise to remember the life of Hoang Nguyen, who worked in social housing for many years. I first met Hoang in around 2016, when Hoang had to find homes for 198 households as part of the rebuilding of the Flemington public housing estate. Hoang sat with tenants, he asked what they wanted, and he worked tirelessly to get the very best outcome for public housing tenants. I remember there was an older resident who lived up on the third storey of the walk-ups and was in a wheelchair. Hoang met with him, found that he had lived in South Melbourne as a child and located a flat for the resident within a short commute on his scooter to the South Melbourne Market. That was the kind of guy that Hoang was. Hoang treated public housing tenants with respect, with dignity and with decency. He simply was everything that you could want from a housing worker, and he always did it with a smile. Hoang was just outstanding, and I think it would be fitting for the Minister for Housing to consider naming an annual award for housing support excellence in Hoang’s name. Hoang, thank you so much for caring.