Thursday, 3 April 2025

Malcolm Fraser commemorative service

Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (09:59): Recently I attended the 10th anniversary commemorative service of the Honourable Malcolm John Fraser, our 22nd Prime Minister of Australia, organised by the Australian Vietnamese Refugees National Council. The service was attended by Mrs Tammy Fraser, the Fraser family, representatives from the RSL, the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia, bishops of the Catholic Church and members of the various Buddhist sects across Melbourne, among with numerous community and faith leaders. To describe the service in the words of the president of the Australian Vietnamese Refugees National Council:

In Vietnamese culture, respect and gratitude remind us to remember the grower of the food we eat and honour the source of the water we drink.

This important lesson has been passed down through generations and serves as a reminder that we must never forget those who support us in our time of greatest need. How appropriate this is when the Anzac service is coming up. The Fraser legacy is not merely a chapter in the Vietnamese history of Vietnamese refugees. He was a man of great vision, courage and humanity. He stood as a bright light against communism, opened the door to 56,000 Vietnamese refugees, allowing tens of thousands more to benefit from these policies. In short, his legacies and his contribution will be depicted in the new Vietnamese museum being built in Sunshine in the coming years.