Wednesday, 19 February 2020

COVID-19

Mr TAK (Clarinda) (10:07): Last week I was delighted to join the Minister for Health and many of my parliamentary colleagues for lunch at the iconic Shark Fin restaurant in the city and at Glen Waverley’s amazing House of Delight. Again this Friday I will be heading out for yum cha with my staff, friends and family.

It is shocking to hear some of the false assumptions being made about people of Asian appearance and assumptions that for some reason Chinese people and Chinese restaurants are unsafe. This is not based on any medical advice; it is based on fear. It is discriminatory and just plain wrong. We should be reaching out to the Chinese and broader Asian community at this extremely difficult time and supporting the businesses and the events that are now such an important part of our community. We should be embracing and supporting our Chinese and broader Asian community members, not spreading misinformation and stoking fear and division. Racism and xenophobia have no place in this response.