CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Mr LIM (Tangney) (10:09): Some Chinese-Australian constituents in Tangney tell me, 'I need to work twice as hard,' or ask, 'When can I be fully accepted as an Australian?' Other people write to me, telling me to go back to China, that I'm not a real Australian, or that I'm a spy who cannot be trusted. There are more than 1.4 million people in Australia with Chinese ancestry, including more than 30,000 in Tangney.

Australia needs experts in cross-cultural engagement, including with China, but some people make it seem like anyone with Chinese heritage is a threat to our national security. Constituents have reached out to me about Professor Charles Qin OAM and a suspicion recently inferred on him. Professor Qin is a distinguished interpreter for many Australian prime ministers.

His OAM recognises his service to international relations, particularly through interpretation and translation. Some of my many constituents are upset and relate to Professor Qin because they have also experienced this suspicion in their own professional lives. If you are not Indigenous then you are a migrant.

The first Chinese migrant arrived in Australia back in year 1818. Some Chinese Australians have been in Australia for decades, for centuries, for generations and yet some feel like, no matter their contribution or achievement, there is still a shadow of suspicion that follow them around. I have great gratitude to Australia.

I served as a WA police officer for almost 16 years and I'm very proud to say my son also served in the Australian Defence Force. The Tangney community elected me twice and trusted me to be their federal representative and yet, like my constituents, sometimes I also feel that shadow. Some migrants tell me they feel the need to prove themselves again and again and again.

This is so demoralising. I'm worried about my constituents, their children and my own grandchildren. Their faces and ancestry are the same as mine.

I do not want people to feel that their contribution to this great country will be questioned. I do not want our country to move in a direction of division, fear and assumptions made on people's skin colour or ancestry. It is unacceptable and intolerable.

We must fight against them or risk further damage to our country's unity. (Time expired)