Tuesday, 18 June 2024

 Eden FOSTER (Mulgrave) (15:25): I stand here today to recognise the Vietnamese–Australian Seniors Association of Victoria and the amazing work that they do in my community. VASA organises regular meetings and social activities to provide the Vietnamese senior community with the opportunity to socialise and build lifelong relationships. In a world where people are finding it harder and harder to build and maintain friendships, the work groups like VASA do is becoming more and more important. I would like to thank VASA for coming in today and joining me here in Parliament this morning. It was lovely to catch up with them.

The Vietnamese community is incredibly important in my electorate of Mulgrave, particularly in the suburb of Springvale. In Springvale more than 20 per cent of the population were born in Vietnam and more than a quarter of the suburb speak Vietnamese at home, according to the 2021 census. In fact there are parts of Springvale where a majority of people speak Vietnamese at home. I am proud to have one of the largest Vietnamese communities not only in the state but in the country, and I am thankful that I have been able to attend a number of events within the local Vietnamese community, including celebrations for Lunar New Year and VASA’s annual Mother’s Day events. I would like to thank VASA for the work that they do and our Vietnamese community for their great contributions not only to my electorate of Mulgrave but also to our state of Victoria.