Thursday, 20 September 2018

 Mr LIM (Clarinda) (14:22): I did not realise the member for Sandringham had been here longer than I have been — I was just about to claim that title. But still it has been 22 years and eight months. This is indeed a long time in Parliament, but still not long enough to achieve everything I would have liked.

In 1996 I was the first and only Cambodian-Chinese person to be elected to a Parliament anywhere in the English-speaking world. I also was the first Asian to be elected to a lower house Parliament in Australia. As I said in my very first speech at the time, this was something momentous. It is something I am extremely proud of and something I will always be proud of. Back then the Cambodian and Chinese community celebrated my election as the first Cambodian-Chinese person to enter the Victorian Parliament. Given that the Chinese settled in this state more than 160 years ago, it was historically significant for all of them.

It was 161 years ago that the Chinese gold-diggers walked from Robe in South Australia to the Victorian goldfields to avoid the racist £10 poll tax imposed on the Chinese in 1857 in Victoria. Many of the 16 800-plus Chinese who made that terrible more-than-400-kilometre journey by foot died from exhaustion and sickness and suffered race riots and discrimination upon arriving in the goldfields.

Last year I was privileged to represent the government at the commemoration festival in Robe. During the festival there was the parade of lions and dragon dancers, dragon boat races and fireworks and the opening of the friendship gate to mark the commemoration. But most significantly, it included the farewell and send-off of 19 pioneer walkers — three of whom were fourth-generation descendants of the original Chinese walkers. They commenced a 20-day walk retracing the footsteps of the horrible walk from Robe. It was to pay special tribute to the honour, the heroic courage, the tenacity, bravery, sacrifice, suffering and resilience of those who came before them more than 161 years ago.

It was those brave people that cut the path for me and cut the path for the Chinese Victorian community that is such a bright and vibrant part of our state today. I was filled with pride and relief when history was made at the great walk reception in Parliament House on 25 May. The Premier and the Leader of the Opposition received the walkers and apologised for this discriminatory policy and wrongdoing of the past. That truly was one of the highlights of my 22 years in this place. It was an emblematic moment. It was testament to just how far we have come as a community here in Victoria.

I have been honoured to serve my constituents in Clayton and Clarinda. I have been honoured to serve one of the most multicultural electorates in the country. It would be remiss of me not to say that I take pride in the fact that I have been able to bring more than 600 attendees from more than 100 community organisations from around 20 different ethnic backgrounds to my Clayton annual multicultural banquet to celebrate multiculturalism. I am grateful to the Premier, who has supported and attended this celebration for the past many years.

Our community is truly diverse and truly dynamic. I am proud of what we have been able to achieve as a community. I take pride in having advocated forcefully for the family reunion of refugees and asylum seekers and then securing resources for their successful resettlement, especially the Indochinese community, the Timorese and the Burmese.

I am proud of the infrastructure we have been able to build. The list is very long and includes the Westall overpass; the rebuild of Westall station and rail maintenance depot; the Huntingdale railway station bus terminal and car parks; the Clayton and Centre Road level crossing removals — ensuring that ambulances are no longer delayed; the magnificent new Clayton station, with new bus connections; the soon-to-be-completed Clayton RSL remembrance garden and cenotaph near the elevated rail; the open space between Caulfield and Dandenong which will be completed shortly; the Wat Buddharangsee Cambodian Buddhist temple multipurpose hall in Clarke Road, Springvale South; the Springvale Asian Gateway in Buckingham Avenue, welcoming all to the shopping centre; and the soon-to-be-built first Chinese aged-care centre in the south-east of Melbourne. Our community has come so far over the last 22 years.

And what about the Monash Medical Centre? What can I say? Monash Medical has been ever expanding, full of dedicated doctors, nurses and support staff. I am so proud of the massive increase in dollars we have been able to provide for equipment purchases. I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff that treated me there many times over the years. I am also so very glad that we have legislated for nurse to patient staff ratios.

Then there is the Monash Children’s Hospital, with a helipad which was cut from the project by the previous Liberal government, and the new school at Monash Children’s to ensure our sick kids keep up with their education, with an extra $13 million in the past budget. It was such a pleasure to visit the kids there last May together with the member for Oakleigh. There has been funding for the new Monash Children’s emergency room, separating it from the main Monash Medical Centre emergency room. The list goes on and on. There is the John Monash Science School, with 640 year 10–12 students — that was $20 million very well spent; as well as the Australian synchrotron and a myriad of medical research grants in the Monash employment cluster, saving lives every day. It is just amazing.

I have also been extremely proud to be part of a government that believes in the Education State. I remember fondly in 2010 the $3.8 million for Spring Parks Primary School, a most deserving disadvantaged school. At Cheltenham Secondary College there has been a $7 million rebuild, with a new arts precinct created, a senior school and careers centre established and a wing of new senior classrooms, library and multipurpose classrooms developed, with the year 7 area also renovated.

I am going out on a good note after the last budget announcement, which included moneys for the Westall education precinct — $12.3 million for the first stage rebuild of the primary school and commencement of the secondary college to give these kids a greater chance of success in their lives. There is Huntingdale Primary School, with moneys for a new school oval and planning moneys for a master plan. This was done years ago, along with Clayton South Primary School, only to see the Baillieu Liberal government walk away from that commitment. Again I am proud to be part of this government and its investment in education, its efforts to reduce class sizes and increase teacher numbers and support staff numbers. Our children really are in good hands.

Another priority of this government has been community safety. Another proud achievement has been the record investment into new police and proper resources. Several times this year I have spoken about the significant decreases in recorded offences and criminal incidents in my electorate which are a result of more police at the local level. I do not know where some of the honourable members opposite were getting their statistics from yesterday, but as of March this year all of the four cities which make up my electorate saw significant reductions in crime from last year — and those were very significant reductions of between 5.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent across the four cities.

Interestingly, of the four cities it was the City of Greater Dandenong — Australia’s most culturally diverse community — which had the greatest decrease in criminal incidents. The level of diversity in Greater Dandenong is the highest in the country. Residents come from 157 different birthplaces and more than half were born overseas. More than 70 per cent speak a language other than English and it is home to almost 2000 new asylum seekers. So it pleases me very much, for the last time, to remind all of those who like to dog-whistle about the supposed criminal activities of migrants and refugees, especially the young people, that in the most multicultural community, not only in this state but in this country, crime is down more than 11 per cent.

At this juncture it would be remiss of me not to mention that we have been there and seen that. During the 1980s and 90s we saw the criminality of the young Indochinese. We saw the Vietnamese gangs. We saw them cutting each other. We saw them fight and we saw them overdose in the public toilets in Springvale. I have been there and I saw that. But we responded to those challenges. We went into the prison system and we educated them and prepared them so that they came out not reoffending. We can do that again and we are doing it now. So all the dog-whistling, especially from those in Canberra, has to stop. They probably have to ask the question, ‘What can we do to help?’ and take up that challenge so that everyone in the country now is a proud Australian.

To all the community-based organisations in my electorate in the south-east and across the state, your invaluable work in assisting some of the marginalised members of our community and in assisting the newly arrived members of our community — the importance of your work can never be overstated. Again, I salute you all for your spirit and generosity, for the long and unrelenting hours you have provided over so many years. In particular I need to thank the Chinese Community Council of Australia, Victorian chapter; the Cambodian Association of Victoria; the Cambodian Australian Federation; the Teo Chew Chinese Association and all the Khmer temples in the south-east. I am so proud to have worked with all of you. I am proud of the programs and initiatives, the infrastructure, the awards and honours for community groups large and small, and the individuals.

I must thank many individuals, particularly Minister Robin Scott, a friend, supporter and a believer in multiculturalism; Cr Youhorn Chea, the refugee who became a four-time City of Greater Dandenong mayor, who stuck by me through thick and thin; Meng Heang Tak, who is going to be my successor; and my many past and present ‘believers’ team of staff and volunteers led by the incredible Peter Davis who cannot be here today.

I would like also to mention specially the venerable head of one of the biggest Buddhist temples in the south-east, who is here in the gallery. I finally take the opportunity to thank my wife, Bopha, who is also in the gallery and my two sons, Jeremy and Geoffrey, for their patience in putting up with me for all these long years and giving me the most enormous support.

I can keep on saying thanks to the many parliamentary colleagues, state and federal, who have supported me, who guided me and who never failed in their belief in what we are doing, in the south-east particularly and also nationally. I thank the staff of the Parliament who have treated me with respect and courtesy and always supported me during the years. I will never forget the first day I came to Parliament, when people addressed me as Mr Lim — and that was the staff inside this building. I am grateful for their support and I am grateful for the time I spent in this place. I am grateful for the opportunity, and I thank you all.

Honourable members applauded.