Tim Watts: Australia is home to nearly 300,000 Vietnamese Australians, and each one of them has a unique Australian story-stories of sacrifice to give their children a better shot at life than they had, long hours and hard work to grow small businesses and educate the next generation of doctors, lawyers, teachers, leaders and entrepreneurs. I am proud that, under a Labor Shorten government, each...
Read More >Tim Watts: Scholar Robin Jeffrey once wrote: If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, Australia's path to Asia is a jungle track paved with reports. More than a dozen major reports over the past 50 years have called for a greater engagement with Asia. Peter Varghese's An India Economic Strategy to 2035 is the latest, but I must say it is an outstanding one. Each report has edged us closer,...
Read More >Tim Watts: by leave-I will join with the member for Mallee in thanking those who made this delegation possible, particularly the committee secretariat, who travelled with us on this delegation, and also particularly the High Commission staff in Kenya, led by Alison Chartres. We know they have endured a difficult time recently with the recent terrorist attacks in Kenya that occurred very near to...
Read More >Tim Watts: I rise today to claim victory on the occasion of Australian Ben Simmons' selection in the 2019 NBA All-Star Game that is being held this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. Last year I used the outrageous exclusion of Ben Simmons from the 2018 NBA All-Star Game as an opportunity to draw attention to the golden generation of Australians currently playing in the NBA and the way that these...
Read More >Tim Watts: Last night we heard the fantastic news that the Bahrain government's extradition proceedings against footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, a refugee and resident of Australia who has spent the last two months in a Thai jail under threat of refoulement, were being dropped. Hakeem returned to a hero's welcome at Melbourne Airport today, and he was reunited with his wife this afternoon. The public...
Read More >Tim Watts: I rise today to recognise and celebrate the life of the venerable William 'Bill' Beagley. Bill contained multitudes. He was so full of life and he made the lives of those around him fuller. He was an iconoclast: a motorcycle-riding, rock-music-playing priest with long flowing hair and a great beard. He was a friend and a valued ethical guide to me, someone I was always happy to see and proud...
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