Australian politicians thank Chinese community for support

Several Australian politicians from the opposition Labor party have said that their victories at the July 2 election would not have been possible without the dedication put forward by the Australian-Chinese community.

Among them was the first indigenous Australian elected to the Australian House of Representatives, Linda Burney, who said the Chinese media and community was instrumental in seeing through a large win for the Labor party in her Sydney electorate at the vote.

Burney singled out an Australian-Chinese volunteer named "Jack," thanking him for his tireless efforts in campaigning for her in the cold winter.

Burney also thanked the local Chinese language media for reporting matters "in a very real way."

Volunteers of Chinese descent have been instrumental in helping Australian politicians communicate their messages to the large number of ethnic Chinese now living within the community as none of the elected representatives spoke Mandarin, New South Wales (NSW) state parliamentarian for Kogarah Chris Minns said.

"Despite my best efforts I don't speak any Mandarin, so we rely on you guys to communicate to our electorate," Minns said, referring to the Chinese volunteers.

Minns also hailed the international Chinese student communities who had left their hometowns in China to pursue higher education in Australia adding that they were brave to take such risks.

"I have spoken to 100 (Chinese) students and I know many of you are home sick but I want to try to remember Deng Xioping (China's revolutionary and statesman) who moved to France to see the world ... and he decided to learn French and worked and lived there," he said while sparking laughter.

Minns said the risk that Deng had taken when he moved abroad was what led him to his prosperity.

Minns' colleague, NSW parliamentarian for Rockdale Steve Kamper who is of Greek descent said the Chinese community was growing fast in his constituency and that he was ever so grateful for their hard work in the last election.

"I wouldn't be here today without people like yourself and you are always welcome to Rockdale as there is a large Chinese representation, it is a growing group, the Greeks is a little a head but we are losing," Kemper said.

All three politicians later presented approximately 100 Australian Chinese volunteers with a "thank-you" certificate of appreciation for their efforts at NSW's state parliament's Jubilee room on Friday.

There are roughly about one million Australian Chinese voters in the country with some electorates having a larger proportion of the vote.

In Burney's electorate of Barton for example, the number of Chinese voters stands at 22 percent out of approximately 100,000 voters. Enditem