Matters of Interest

Black April

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:26): On 30 April 1975, the North Vietnamese Army disregarded the 1973 Paris Peace Accords and overran the city of Saigon. Last Thursday marked 40 years since that event, the memory of which is still vivid in the minds of many Australian Vietnamese today. For Vietnamese refugees all around the world, the day is remembered as Tháng Tư Đen, or 'Black April' in English. The international Vietnamese community commemorates Black April and grieves for what has happened to Vietnam during the last 40 years.

Vietnam today is a single party state with a long record of human rights abuses. There are limitations on freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. In Vietnam, all press is regulated by the state. Journalists and bloggers who dare to publish information or opinions that might upset the government are often arrested. Access to the internet is heavily filtered, and websites which the government thinks might threaten its power are blocked.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) says Vietnam has the highest number of political prisoners in South-East Asia. It is estimated that there are at least 212 dissidents behind bars and many more are under house arrest. The Vietnamese government's abuse of power is a source of great pain to many Vietnamese, as well as those in the Vietnamese international community.

Here in Australia, as we observe the 40 years that have passed since the fall of Saigon, we in the Australian Vietnamese community also remember how lucky we are to call Australia home. In this country, our rights and freedoms are protected, and those who have fled war and oppression, myself included, have been granted the chance to live a safe, peaceful and free life. As a young person growing up in this great country, I do hope the Vietnamese government can take a leaf out of Australia's book by reforming some areas of importance to improve the lives of millions of Vietnamese. Vietnam needs to fix its justice system to give the people justice and confidence in its government.

Corruption is causing a huge economic and social gap between the rich and poor. Corruption is a major problem in stopping the development and growth of Vietnam. One of the ways to reduce corruption from officials is by allowing press freedom. Journalists should be able to criticise governments and people in positions of power if they have done wrong.

Having hope and faith is a cornerstone of the human life. Allowing people freedom of religion is to give them and their families faith and hope for the future, especially in a third world country, where people struggle every day, not knowing when their next meal will be. Allowing people hope and faith will move the country forward towards a better future.

Many people lost their lives in the Vietnam War. It is estimated that over 1.3 million people, both civilians and military, died. Many Australian families lost their loved ones. I thank them all and I honour them. I also pay tribute to the nearly 300,000 allied military who also lost their lives. On behalf of the Australian Vietnamese community, I thank successive Australian governments since the fall of Saigon who have been so welcoming and accepting to the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees and migrants to Australia. We are so proud to call Australia home.