Neudeck, Dr Rupert

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:27): It is with great sadness that I rise to speak on the recent passing of Dr Rupert Neudeck, one of the world's greatest philanthropists. Dr Rupert Neudeck was born on 14 May 1939 in Gdansk, Poland. He was a refugee at a young age when he and his family were forced to move to Germany, due to the turmoil of war-torn Europe. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, millions of Vietnamese became refugees and fled the country on unseaworthy fishing boats to find freedom.

In February 1979, Dr Neudeck founded a private charity committee called Cap Anamur to carry out search and rescue missions of Vietnamese boat people along the South China Sea. He used donated funds to operate a cargo ship to pick up Vietnamese boat people. The first Cap Anamur ship began rescuing boat people in February 1980, and by late 1989 the Cap Anamur saved the lives of 11,300 Vietnamese boat people and provided medical care for another 35,000 refugees in South-East Asian refugee camps.

Most of the boat people rescued were exhausted, soaked with sea water and filled with terror. Before being rescued, many of them encountered armed pirates who robbed and raped the boat people and wrecked their boats. This is truly a momentous humanitarian effort, led not by a government but by a courageous and inspiring individual who was moved by the suffering of the boat people.

In my maiden speech in this house I spoke about my rescue from the brink of death by the Cap Anamur, along with 31 other Vietnamese, while our boat was leaking and sinking. I and many other Vietnamese throughout the world owe our lives to Dr Neudeck. His courageous actions have had a direct positive impact on Australia through the successful integration into Australian society of Australian Vietnamese. Many of them have since sponsored their other family members to come to Australia.

Other rescued refugees have migrated to all different parts of the world, including countries such as Dr Neudeck's native Germany, the United States and Canada. Due to the far-reaching benefits of his work, Dr Neudeck has been awarded many honours in recognition of his service. While the committee was born out of Dr Neudeck's initiative in rescuing boat people, to this day it continues to run development projects and humanitarian relief in more than 40 countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Dr Neudeck demonstrated leadership and understanding in a period of time when the established norms that we accept today did not exist. Dr Neudeck did not just save people, more importantly he challenged Western society's disposition to the plight of boat people. Dr Neudeck openly publicised the impoverished conditions of people he rescued, raising public recognition of the plight of refugees in western countries, particularly in Germany. His humanitarian work in helping boat people also raised the need to find solutions for other problems, such as the slave trade, as pirates not only looted from boat people but also abducted many women.

I am very grateful to have made contact with Dr Neudeck recently, to thank him for saving me and thousands of other refugees. Dr Neudeck's death comes as a loss to humanity, though his legacy lives on through the many associations and committees that assist refugees fleeing persecution today. Dr Neudeck will be forever remembered as an advocate for refugees. Dr Neudeck once said: 'If you are aware of a tragedy of human lives, then you have to do something at once.' He embodied courage, commitment and compassion in its purest form. For a great many of us, Dr Neudeck is a hero. I pass on my condolences to Dr Neudeck's wife, Christel, and his three children. May Mr Neudeck's soul rest in peace now that he rests in God's care.