Page 2779 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 13 September 1994
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I think we all would accept, as the Chief Minister said, that violence is never a solution to these problems. Nor do we believe that you can solve these problems simply by cracking down on crime or stepping up in policing, although, obviously, those sorts of issues are important. We have to really address the underlying causes, and they are the problems of things like unemployment and making sure that our children understand the sorts of values that John Newman held dear. I think everybody accepts that what happened last Monday night is totally abhorrent to the Australian way of life. I am confident that everybody in this house believes that. We can only hope that it never happens again, but it will not happen again only if there is continued courage from those who hold office in this country. Mr Acting Speaker, the greatest honour we could show to John Newman would be our continuing commitment to a free and just community without violence.
MS SZUTY: In speaking to this condolence motion, I will also be speaking on behalf of my colleague, Mr Moore. Mr Acting Speaker, it is with sadness that I rise to speak briefly to this motion of condolence. I am speaking not because I knew John Newman but because of my astonishment and outrage at what happened to him. The cowardly shooting of John Newman by unknown assailants on the evening of 5 September was a sad event in Australian history, an event which I am sure all Australians deplore. Assassination has not been a part of the Australian political landscape, and, hopefully, it never will be. While some may see this view as being innocent or even naive, I strongly believe that all Australians value the openness of our democratic process and the fact that violence is not a part of mainstream political life.
We note that John Newman made a significant contribution to public life in New South Wales, particularly in the Fairfield area. He was elected to the Fairfield City Council in 1977 and went on to serve as deputy mayor in 1985 and 1986. His passion for karate was recognised with his appointment to the Australian Sports Commission in 1985. In the 1986 by-election he was elected to represent the seat of Cabramatta in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and he served as a member of parliament from that time. The district of Cabramatta very much reflects Australia's multicultural society. Cabramatta is home to more than 101 ethnic groups speaking 65 languages, and more than half of its 71,000 people were born overseas. In the broader Fairfield City Council area, the 1991 census showed that 41.5 per cent of the population was born in Asia, with 21.4 per cent having been born in Vietnam.
John Newman made the point that many crimes in Cabramatta were not being reported to the police, as members of ethnic communities naturally feel comfortable within their own communities and seek to resolve problems within these communities. Many members of ethnic groupings have little or no English, and many members of ethnic communities harbour an abiding distrust of authority as a result of experiences in their countries of origin. He saw home invasions or robberies in the home as a particular problem, as they occurred roughly three times more frequently in Cabramatta than in the rest of Sydney. In a long-running campaign, John Newman fought tirelessly and fearlessly to make Cabramatta a safer place for his constituents. His ongoing calls for the police force in the area to reflect more appropriately the ethnic diversity of his electorate seemed, unfortunately, to fall on deaf ears. It can be argued that the methods he chose in his campaign may sometimes have been divisive, but his commitment to achieving a successful outcome was always apparent.
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