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Kristina Keneally in Fowler on election day. The Labor candidate’s bid to win the previously safe seat ended in failure.Credit:Dean Sewell

The constituents of the VCA – and the identity of the VCA itself – is defined by the wounds of the war.

But over time,the Vietnamese diaspora in Fowler has changed. It now includes family reunion migrants,skilled migrants,business migrants and international students that have no direct memory or connection to the war. Some are even children of Communist cadres who were wartime enemies of VCA war veterans. And even those of us who do have these connections,who grew up in poverty,traumatised by the intergenerational pain of war,don’t always agree with the VCA.

Though it is important,it no longer represents all Vietnamese in Fowler.

The Labor Party and Kristina Keneally publiclyannounced they had the backing of the Vietnamese community as they stood alongside a VCA NSW executive member – but that support did not tell them anything about the attitude of all VCA members – or Vietnamese war refugees outside VCA – towards Keneally’s candidacy nor that of the broader Vietnamese community.

The new independent MP for Fowler,Dai Le.Credit:Peter Rae

Their mistake reminds me of the tokenised diversity approach I see in the corporate world. If you’ve consulted “the Muslim”,“the Aboriginal person”,“the gay”,“the person with a disability”,“the Asian” or any other marginalised individual,you’ve done your homework.

Another error,prolific in corporate Australia,is their biased view of leadership qualities. In endorsing Keneally over local lawyer Tu Le,Paul Keating said she had “executive talent”. This notion evokes a certain archetype of Anglo-centric leadership,a type of leadership that keeps racial diversity at the bottom and white people at the top. And in any case,in our community,leaders can behave differently,without the need for this expression of “talent”.

During the pandemic,the inequitable treatment of south-western Sydney communities,including those in Fowler,was clear. People gathered on Bondi Beach without punishment while in Fowler there were helicopters and loudspeakers,reminiscent of the war.

My mother’s friends,front-line workers,elderly themselves,had to wear nappies to urinate as they waited for hours to get tested every few days to go to work. My parents,eternally grateful to Australia,were for the first time in 42 years outraged by the indignity and the inequality.

On Vietnamese community TV,the white woman from Scotland Island was also called a boat refugee – she left an island and found refuge in Liverpool. My friends said it was reminiscent of Labor’s Reba Meagher being parachuted in from a beachside suburb after the shooting of MP John Newman. According to the Labor Party at the time,we had to be rescued by a white saviour woman who knew better.

And now,we were being rescued again. I remember the heroin crisis of the ’90s in Cabramatta,when my friends were shot and fell victim to a lack of economic opportunity and lingering trauma. Over the years,it was Dai Le who campaigned for the community,from safe public toilets to decent car parks to,as a journalist,telling the stories that reflected us.

Understanding the Australian Vietnamese community also means understanding its complex and sensitive relationship to communist Vietnam,concurrently embracing the need for deeper engagement with Vietnam as we navigate extremely challenging geopolitical trade and security tensions with China.

Representing Fowler is not only about representing Australian Vietnamese. Getting it right with this group is a good measure of whether an MP has the skills to be able to connect with this broader electorate – an electorate of survivors.

It takes someone with lived experience,wisdom and empathy to necessarily honour the refugee past of the Vietnamese community and the deep heartache we still carry,while also navigating its evolving future within Australia and our region.

The residents of Fowler may simply be voters to some. For Dai Le,Tu Le,and me,these people are our family. That is why Labor lost Fowler.

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