The fiftieth anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between Australia and the People’s Republic of China is an opportunity to review the links between our two countries.

What follows is an account of one issue indirectly connected with this: participation by Australians of Chinese heritage in government affairs as elected representatives. This account gives most attention to the national level and the election of 21 May 2022. Chinese names have been used where these are publicly available.

Former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975.
National Archives of Australia, CC BY 3.0 au.

Background

Australia is home to about 1.4 million Chinese Australians, just over five per cent of the population. Their experiences are as diverse as their views: many were born in Australia, with lineages that span generations of Australian history. Others have migrated more recently from China or Southeast Asia.

Diplomatic relations between Australia and China resumed with a communiqué signed in Paris late on the evening of 21 December 1972. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam made this the first decision to be implemented after his government was elected only three weeks before on 2 December. It was a significant moment in the relationship between Australia and China. The communiqué followed Whitlam’s visit to China while he was still opposition leader in July 1971 when he met Chinese Premier Zhao Enlai 周恩来. While the visit was mocked by then Prime Minister William McMahon, subsequent events including Henry Kissinger’s later visit showed Whitlam’s foresight.

Ambassadors were exchanged in early 1973. The 50^th anniversary of the Paris communiqué is the opportunity to look at the many facets of the Australia-China relationship not just the participation of Chinese Australians in elected political positions. Participation in political office is not the only measure of a successful community, but it is a measure of the confidence to participate and be accepted in that role.

1973 marked another milestone for Chinese Australians and other non-white communities. The 'White Australia Policy’ was formally abolished by the Whitlam Government after operating for some 70 years. The policy had begun to be dismantled during the previous decade under the Liberal administration resulting in an increase in migration by overseas Chinese from places such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Those wishing to migrate from the People’s Republic of China, including students, could only do so after formal diplomatic recognition provided a means to do this. (See further reading in item one below.)

Going further, Al Grassby the Minister for Immigration in the Whitlam Government issued a reference paper entitled ‘A multi-cultural society for the future’, coining the phrase and defining the concept. Australians now come from nearly 200 countries and represent more than 300 ethnic ancestries. One in four people in Australia (26%) were born overseas.

The history of Chinese people in Australia pre-dates 1972 of course. (See further reading item two below.) Within a generation of white settlement in 1788, migrants from China were working in the colony of New South Wales. The earliest documented arrived in 1818. He married in 1832, changed his name to 麥世英,‘Mak Sai Ying’ in Cantonese, and was known as John Shying. The mid-century gold rushes attracted thousands more with many staying on to make lives as merchants, artisans, shepherds and agriculturalists.

The Australian system of government

Australia is a representative democracy and one of the oldest liberal democracies in the world. The key feature is that all adult Australian citizens are equally entitled to participate in Australia's democratic political system, not just to vote but also to compete for election. Australia works as a federal system in which state governments are not agents of the federal government but are equally sovereign in their respective domains. Local governments, which may be designated shire, town or city, fall under sovereign state jurisdiction and not under the federal government.

Australia is also a parliamentary democracy. It was formed in 1901 from a federation of six states (former British colonies) which, together with two self-governing territories, each have their own constitutions, parliaments, governments and laws. The Australian Constitution establishes the Federal Government and defines the role of the Parliament, the Executive Government (the Prime Minister and Ministers) and the Judiciary (courts). The Executive Government comes from within the Parliament in contrast to the United States, for example, where the Executive Government is not answerable to Congress.

The role of the parliament is to consider and make laws including taxation and government expenditure and scrutinise the executive. There are two chambers of the Australian Parliament; the House of Representatives where members are elected for a defined area and the Senate, a house of review where members are elected to represent their state or territory. Each state and territory have similar systems as do local (city) governments overseen by their respective state governments, though Queensland, the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory have only one ‘chamber’.

The three largest political parties are; the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal Party of Australia, and the Nationals. Labor is Australia’s oldest party, established in 1901, and in 1904 formed the world's first workers' party government. The Liberal Party was formed in 1944 and the Nationals in 1920. Since 1949, the Liberal Party and the Nationals have often formed government as a coalition. There are several smaller parties and an increasing number of independents. The largest of the minor parties is the Greens who polled well in the 2022 national election.

Local Government

There are 537 local government councils Australia-wide, more than half of which are in rural, or remote areas and are structured with only one chamber. The trend of increasing participation by Chinese Australians as elected officials is evident in looking at the major state capital city local government areas. In my Council area, for example, the deputy major is a Chinese Australian who has been on the Council since 2016. The increased participation by Chinese Australians is in some ways a predictor of participation in State and Federal parliaments.

Two of the current ten members of the Sydney City Council are Chinese Australians. Robert Kok is a lawyer and three-term City Councillor. He was first elected to Council in 2008 and served as Deputy Lord Mayor from 2011-2012. He is Malaysian-born and migrated 30 years ago. H. Y. William Chan is a Sydney architect, who was elected recently and is a first-generation migrant from Hong Kong. Going back in time, Henry Shiu-Lung Tsang OAM 曾筱龙 was Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney (1991- 1999) as well as a member of the New South Wales Parliament and was born in Jiangxi Province but left during the post-World War Two upheavals. These examples show the variety of backgrounds of Chinese-Australians.

The Melbourne City Council comprises a lord mayor, deputy lord mayor and nine councillors. Three of the nine councillors elected in 2020 are Chinese Australians. Kevin Louie first elected in 2008 was born in Hong Kong and his parents were from Jiangmen in Guangdong Province. Interestingly, his grandfather was born in Bendigo, Victoria, and later migrated to China. Jason Chang was elected in 2020; Philip Le Liu was elected in November 2020 and previously elected in 2016. Earlier, high-profile Hong Kong born businessman John Chun Sai So AO 蘇震西 served as the 102nd Lord Mayor. He was the first Lord Mayor in the city's history to be directly elected by voters; previously, the Lord Mayor was elected by the councillors. He is also the first Lord Mayor of Melbourne of Chinese descent. First elected in 2001 and re-elected in 2004, So is the second-longest-serving Lord Mayor of Melbourne, serving for seven and a half years. Prior to John So, David Wang Neng Hwan 王能焕 (1920-1978) came to Australia in 1942 and became a prominent merchant and Melbourne’s first Chinese-born councillor. Younger Chinese-Australians in politics tend not to use their Chinese name in promotional material, though it is clear they retain pride in their ancestry.

Alfred Huang Guoxin AM 黄国鑫 was born in Chengdu and elected to the Adelaide City Council in 1997. He became the Deputy Lord Mayor three years later from 2000 to 2003. He was elected the first Chinese-born Lord Mayor of an Australian Capital City and promoted Adelaide as a destination for business, investment and study.

Brisbane City Council has the largest number of Council members in local government in Australia with 26 area representatives and 27 councillor positions including the Lord Mayor who is directly elected by residents. Steven Huang is the only counsellor with a Chinese background. He arrived from Taiwan in 1988 as a 12-year-old. He is fluent in Mandarin and understands Cantonese and is a Lord Mayor’s representative for multicultural communities. Huang also stood as a Liberal candidate this year for the Federal seat of Morton in Brisbane. He remarked that ‘despite being one of Australia’s most multicultural seats, Moreton has never had a federal representative born overseas.’ He was unsuccessful, however, with the seat being retained by the Labor candidate with an increased vote. The outcome is likely to be a result of his party affiliation which waned across the country.

There are 12 elected members who represent the businesses and residents of the City of Hobart Council in Australia’s smallest state. There are no Chinese-Australian members at present and have not been in the past; however, two of the current Council members have a south Asian background.

Alex Fong Lim AM 鄺鴻銓 (1931-1990) was the eleventh Lord Mayor of the City of Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory, serving from 1984 to 1990 and the country’s first Chinese Australian Lord Mayor. His grandfather sailed to Australia with friends in a sampan 舢舨 from Guangzhou 廣州 to Darwin in the 1800s. His daughter Katrina Mary Fong Lim was also Lord Mayor from 2012 to 2017. Prior to 1972, the case of Harry Chan Tien Fook OBE is worth noting. In 1959 he was elected to the Darwin City Council and was Mayor from 1966 to 1969. He entered the Legislative Council for the Northern Territory in 1962 and in 1965 was unanimously chosen by his colleagues as the first elected president of the Legislative Council; an office he held until his death in 1969. He was the first Chinese in Australia to hold such positions.

State and Territory Parliaments

The Australian Capital Territory has a 25-member Legislative Assembly. None record having a Chinese background. Last year Elizabeth Lee, who has a Korean background, became leader of the Canberra Liberals, raising the profile of Asian-Australian representation and cultural diversity leadership. A common way of framing the increasing role of Chinese Australians as elected representatives is to see it as an expression of multiculturalism and the increase of Asian Australians in representative government. Jieh-Yung Lo, director of the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership at the Australian National University, sees the significance of Lee’s election as showing that ‘Asian Australians can also be the leaders of our nation, willing to set the agenda…’ In terms of civil society, Canberra’s honorary ambassador Sam Wong AM 黃樹樑 is best known for developing the city’s multicultural festival.

New South Wales

The Parliament of New South Wales has two chambers, the Legislative Assembly with 93 members and the Legislative Council with 42. The table below shows members with a Chinese background.

Name	Party / comment	Chamber	Background	Term of office
Wesley Joseph Fang	Nationals, Chinese-Australian member of his party in the NSW Parliament.	Council	Born in Australia, Australian and Singapore-Chinese background.	9 August 2017-current.
Dr Geoffrey Lee	Liberal, Minister for Corrections.	Assembly	Born in Australia, Australian, of Southern-Chinese background.	26 Mar 2011-current.
Jenny Leong	Greens	Assembly	Australian-born Chinese.	28 Mar 2015- current.
Jason Yat-Sen Li, 李逸仙.	Labor	Assembly	Born in Australia to parents from Hong Kong.	12 Feb 2022- current.
Helen Wai-Har Sham-Ho OAM, 何沈慧霞.	Liberal, later Independent.	Council	Born in Hong Kong. First Chinese-born Parliamentarian.	19 Mar 1988 - 28 Feb 2003.
Henry Shiu-Lung Tsang OAM, 曾筱龙.	Labor	Council	Born in Jiangxi.	27 March 1999-3 December 2009.
Ernest Wong, 王國忠.	Unity Party, then Labor	Council	Born in Hong Kong.	23 May 2013-01 Mar 2019.
Dr Peter Wong AM, 黃肇強.	Liberal, then founder of Unity Party.	Council	Born in China.	27 Mar 1999-23 Mar 2007.

Helen Sham was the first Australian Chinese to win a seat in the Legislative Council of New South Wales in 1988. Jason Li was the only person of Chinese ancestry to be elected to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention, though not the only one to stand. He ran as a candidate for ‘A Multi-Cultural Voice’ which supported Australia becoming a republic.

Northern Territory

The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is made up of 25 elected members and has one chamber.

Name	Party	Background	Term of office
John Leonard ‘Jack’ Ah Kit	Labor, several ministerial appointments including the first indigenous minister from 1995 to 2005.	Born in the Northern Territory. Aboriginal and Chinese descent. His grandfather migrated from Guangdong.	7 October 1995 – 16 June 2005.
Ngaree Jane Ah Kit	Labor, several ministerial appointments including multicultural affairs.	Born in the Northern Territory. Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Chinese descent, and daughter of Jack Ah Kit.	27 August 2016–current.
Richard Soon Huat Lim	Deputy Leader of the Country Liberal Party.	Born in Malaysia.	4 June 1994 – 9 July 2007.

Queensland

The Queensland parliament consists of one chamber, the Legislative Assembly which consists of 93 Members.

Name	Party	Background	Term of office
Michael Choi Wai-Man, OAM	Labor	Born in Hong Kong.	17 Feb 2001-23 Mar 2012

South Australia

The Parliament of South Australia consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly and the 22-seat Legislative Council. Only one person with a Chinese background has been identified.

Name	Party	Chamber	Background	Term of office
Jing-Shyuan Lee	Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary Multicultural Affairs, Trade and Investment and Small Business.	Council	Born in Malaysia.	20 March 2010-current.

Tasmania

The Tasmanian Parliament consists of the 25-seat House of Assembly and the 15-seat Legislative Council. No members in the current or past Parliaments can be identified as having Chinese ancestry.

Victoria

The Victorian Parliament consists of the 88-seat House of Assembly and the 39-seat Legislative Council.

Name

Party

Chamber

Background

Term of office

Hong Lim,

林美豐

Labor

Assembly

Born in Cambodia of Chinese and Cambodian background.

30 March 1996-18 December 2018.

Harriet Shing

Labor. Minister for Equality, Regional Development and Water.

Council

Born in Australia.First Victorian minister with a Chinese background.

2014 – current.

Western Australia

There are 36 members of the Legislative Council in Western Australia drawn from six electoral regions across the State. There are 59 members of the Legislative Assembly drawn from 59 electoral districts across the State.

Name	Party	Chamber	Background	Term of office
Helen Hong Hui Bullock	Labor	Council	Born in Nanjing.	22 May 2009-21 May 2013.
Pierre Yang Shuai, 杨帅	Labor	Council	Born in Harbin.	11 March 2017- current.

Commonwealth or National Government

Of the 76 senators in the Australian Parliament, only one current member has a Chinese background; the current Foreign Minister. The House of Representatives has 151 members. In 1972, none identified as having a Chinese background, compared to four in the current Parliament.

Name	Party	Chamber	Background	Term of office
Irina Dunn	Nuclear Disarmament Party	Senate	Macanese Chinese/European. Born in Shanghai.	21 July 1988 - 30 June 1990.
Bill O'Chee	National	Senate	Chinese father, Irish-Australian mother. Born in Australia.	8 May 1990 - 30 June 1999.
Tchen Tsebin, 陈之彬	Liberal	Senate	Born in Chongqing.	1 July 1999 - 30 June 2005.
Michael Johnson	Liberal	House	Chinese/British. Born in Hong Kong.	10 November 2001 - 21 August 2010.
Penny Wong, 黄英贤	Labour, Foreign Minister	Senate	Chinese/British. Born in Malaysia.	1 July 2002 – current.
Gai Brodtmann	Labour	House	Born in Australia. Chinese, German, Irish, and Scottish ancestry.	21 August 2010 - 11 April 2019.
Ian Goodenough	Liberal	House	Born in Singapore. English, Portuguese, and Malaysian Chinese ancestry.	7 September 2013 – current.
Dio Wang Zhenya, 王振亚	Palmer United Party	Senate	Born in Nanjing.	1 July 2014 - 2 July 2016.
Gladys Liu Sim-ngor, 廖嬋娥	Liberal	House	Born in Hong Kong.	18 May 2019 - 21 May 2022.
Sam Lim Bon Cheng, 林文清	Labor	House	Born in Malaysia.	21 May 2022 – current.
Sally Sitou, 陳莎莉	Labor	House	Born in Australia. Parents migrated from Laos.	21 May 2022 – current.

Penny Wong, 黄英贤,
Australia’s new Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Courtesy, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Trends and Conclusion

Recently released statistics highlight Australia’s multicultural nature. The top five countries that migrants come from in order are; England, India, New Zealand and China with the Philippines and Vietnam nearly the same. These figures do not show the ethnicity of the total population but estimates are that about 2 million Australians have some Chinese ancestry.

Some television commentary on election night in May 2022 suggested that Chinese Australian votes were critical in shifting some seats to Labor. However, Professor John Fitzgerald advised me that there is ‘very little real data informing commentary on the role of people of Chinese background in the election. On my reckoning, less than 15% of Australia’s 1.4 million Chinese residents are voters born in the PRC - around 200,000 in total. This is way below the general voter (and Chinese-Australian voter) participation rate because many PRC-born residents have opted to … retain their PRC citizenship. This means they are ineligible to vote. It follows that there's no direct correlation between Chinese community polling … and actual voting behaviour.’

Dr Kuo Mei-fen from Macquarie University believes that Chinese Australian voters were chiefly moved to vote for Labor this time for the same reasons that motivated other Australian voters - they could see through former Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his policies and they acknowledged that Labor had changed some of its own this time around. Dr Kuo explained that voters from the Chinese community were looking forward to changing the government and Australia via the democratic system just like other voters. ‘The policies related to the standard of living were the main concern’, she said. This perspective is consistent with findings from a study which concluded that there were four policy areas that predict a higher probability of a voter switching from the Coalition: dealing with global climate change; improving disaster relief; improving the way the political system works in Australia, and addressing issues around race. In other words, Chinese Australians who changed from supporting Liberal to Labour did so for reasons similar to those which motivated other Australians.

Through the last fifty years, there has been a gradual but definite increase in the participation of Chinese-Australian voters in the Australian political system as candidates. This trend should be seen in the wider context of the development of Australia as a multicultural society, a shift which has been as significant as the establishment of diplomatic relations with China by the Whitlam Government of 1972. A significant number of Chinese-Australian politicians would probably agree with the remark of Pierre Shuai Yang who, in his inaugural speech, said: ‘I have the greatest admiration and deepest respect for Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, who were instrumental in the establishment of multiculturalism in Australia.’ In my view, the majority of Australians are happy with both trends.

In June 2022, Penny Wong, the new Minister for Foreign Affairs visited East Malaysia. In her remarks, she summarised her approach to foreign affairs and pointed to the reason for the increasing participation in elected office by Chinese Australians: ‘We are a multicultural and diverse nation. And I hope in part my story can contribute to reminding people in this region and throughout the world that Australia is a modern, diverse multicultural society which is keen to continue engaging with the region.’ Wong’s story encapsulates the success of multiculturalism and her example will encourage Chinese Australians, and more broadly Asian Australians and women, to see political office as an option to which they can aspire.

Directly relevant to the diplomatic relationship between China and Australia, Penny Wong also met with China’s State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi 王毅, at the conclusion of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bali in 2022. Relations have had some tension in recent years, but this meeting hopefully marks the start of a return to stability. In Wong’s view; ‘Australia and China have gained much through the strength of our economic and people-to-people ties.’ Those ties blossomed following the Paris communiqué of 1972 and hopefully will continue to do so in the next half-century.

Support for multiculturalism as the key to success for a harmonious society was put by respected paediatrician Dr John Yu 余森美 AC. On 22 June 2022 he delivered the inaugural Wang Gungwu Lecture (named after Professor Wang Gungwu 王赓武) in Sydney on what being Chinese Australian meant to him. He concluded; ‘Australia’s embrace of cultural diversity has been a great success and something we must all value and protect. At its core is a recognition of difference as something that should be valued as a strength.’

The aim here has been to outline the increased involvement of Chinese Australians in elected political office. This has steadily increased over the last 50 years but seems poised to increase further along with other underrepresented sections of Australian society as Australia meets the vision of the Whitlam Government of 1972 to have closer ties with China and build a harmonious multicultural society.

Persons of interest...

09 September 2023

Vale Emeritus Professor John Barnes (1931-2023)

14 March 2023

Reverend F. A. Marsh (1897-1976): Mission and the end of Empire

09 January 2023

John Shying’s growing Australian family

Postscript: A recent SBS podcast on Mak Sai-Ying

09 November 2022

Participation of Chinese Australians in Australia’s government system since 1972