Mr KEENAN (1:05 PM) —I rise in support of this motion. I note the support that has been offered by the members for Mitchell, Kooyong, Parramatta and Gorton, although I would reject what the member for Gorton was saying about our present policies. In fact, I would say the exact opposite. I would have thought that the policies pursued by the Australian government at the moment are actually testimony to the generosity of spirit in Australia in still welcoming humanitarian arrivals. In fact, just in the past few weeks I have been talking to new arrivals in my electorate from the Sudan, from the Congo and from Somalia. I can assure you that they are deeply appreciative that Australia is one of the very few countries in the world that still operates a humanitarian resettlement program. Just as we welcomed the Vietnamese refugees 30 years ago, Australians continue in that same vein to welcome people fleeing oppression in many different parts of the world.

It is very important that the House recognise today the contribution that Vietnamese refugees have made to the Australian community over the past 30 years. It is very fitting that we debate this motion so close to the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the first Vietnamese refugees in Australia. In fact the people that arrived by boat in Darwin on 27 April 1976 were the first to come to Australia in a bid to escape the political turmoil that was then engulfing South-East Asia. They were the first of an estimated two million people who sought refuge in neighbouring and Western countries during this turbulent time. Their arrival marked the beginning of a significant contribution that Vietnamese-born Australians and their descendants have made to our community. It also marked—and I think this is very important—the beginning of the first major resettlement of people of Asian descent since the end of the White Australia Policy.

The history of the Vietnamese in Australia is a classic Australian immigration story which mirrors the experience of many of the other immigrant groups that have settled here. Arriving with very little, as noted by the member for Parramatta, the first generation of refugees worked extraordinarily hard to carve out an existence for themselves and their families. Their success over that time created opportunities for their children, who subsequently went through the Australian education system and into professions or other careers.

This is a great story. It is a story of flight from repression, and then the hope that was offered by a new land and new opportunities. It reflects both the characteristics of the refugees—tenacity, self-sacrifice and the courage that it took to risk everything to come to a new land—and the characteristics of Australia, the host nation that welcomed them. It refects the generosity with which the Australian people provided a home and opportunities to people in need of that assistance.

Australians are great respecters of people who are prepared to have a go, and the new arrivals from Vietnam took up this challenge with some vigour. They are now an integral part of Australian life, enriching our cultural, business and social fabric. Indeed, I think there is probably only one further phase to go in their journey through Australian society, and that will be when we welcome Australians of Vietnamese descent into our parliament. Just as we look around the parliament now and note people who have descended from other immigrant communities, such as the Greeks, the Italians, the Irish, the Chinese or the Macedonians—to name but a few of the communities who are represented here—so we will soon welcome Australians of Vietnamese descent into the parliament. There is no greater tribute to our democracy than this. Indeed, having travelled widely, I know of no other country that has enjoyed such success in managing diversity as has Australia.

An anniversary such as the one we are celebrating provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the wealth of experience and the rich cultural heritage that people from Vietnam have brought to Australia, and in particular to my electorate of Stirling. Western Australia is home to about 10,000 people born in Vietnam, and Stirling is home to about 25 per cent of those. Only last week I visited the Vietnamese Catholic Church in Westminster and I was very proud not long before that to have taken the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, Senator Vanstone, down to the Vietnamese Buddhist Association in Nollamara. The Vietnamese Catholic Church, which I visited last week, started with very humble beginnings, but it has just purchased new and much larger premises for its parish.

In closing I would like to again pay tribute to the people of Australia who have welcomed Vietnamese refugees and who have continued to welcome genuine refugees from around the globe. The large number of new arrivals who settle in Western Australia settle in Stirling. I am always amazed by the community spirit that goes into making these new Australians feel welcome. (Time expired)