Historical figure
Hong Lim
Hong Lim is a Cambodian-born Australian politician. He represented the Australian Labor Party in the Parliament of Victoria from 1996 to 2018, first for the electorate of Clayton and then for Clarinda, in Melbourne's southeast.[1] In 1996 he became the first Victorian member of Parliament with both Chinese and Cambodian heritage.[2]
Early life
Lim was born in Cambodia and came to Australia in 1970.[3] The Age described him as Chinese-Cambodian and wrote that he arrived on a Colombo Plan scholarship to improve his English.[4] In the early 1970s he studied politics at the University of Tasmania, where the political commentator Gerard Henderson was one of his tutors.[4]
Community work
In 1976 the first Cambodian refugees reached Melbourne, and Lim worked as their interpreter. Many of these refugees went on to settle in Springvale.[4] He was one of the founders of the Cambodian Association of Victoria, which by 2003 was based in Springvale.[4]
Parliament
Lim won the seat of Clayton for Labor in 1996, taking over from Gerard Vaughan.[5] He became the first person born in Cambodia to sit in an Australian parliament.[4] His term began on March 30, 1996, and he gave his inaugural speech on May 15, 1996.[1] The seat was renamed Clarinda at the 2014 election, and he went on to represent it under that name.[5]
Lim served as a parliamentary secretary, a member who assists a minister. He was Parliamentary Secretary for Victorian Communities from December 2002 to December 2006. From December 2014 to December 2018 he held the same rank for Multicultural Affairs and Asia Engagement. While Labor was in opposition, he held shadow posts for multicultural and ethnic affairs, small business and business ties with Asia.[1]
Lim has said that Australia should do more to influence the Cambodian government of Hun Sen, whose course he sees as a significant backward step for Cambodia.[3]
Retirement
Lim announced in 2017 that he would not stand again at the next state election.[2] On October 5, 2018, at an event in Clayton marking his 22 years in Parliament, he told his supporters that he was retiring.[6] His term ended on November 23, 2018.[1] Meng Heang Tak, also born in Cambodia, succeeded him as the member for Clarinda.[5][2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Parliament of Victoria, Mr Hong Lim, former member page (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dandenong Star Journal, Casey Neill, Tak eyes state seat (November 28, 2017)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, The World Today, Australia should to more to influence Cambodia: Hong Lim (November 17, 2017)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The Age, Mr Lim's select guest list (October 20, 2003)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Antony Green, Clarinda, 2018 Victorian election guide (2018)
- ↑ Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Khmer, Sarim Khem, MP Hong Lim retires after 22 years in Victorian parliamentary (October 10, 2018)