Sally Sitou’s parents avoided talk of politics after fleeing Laos during the Vietnam War, but they will watch proudly from the public gallery as the new Labor MP gives her first speech in parliament on Tuesday.
The member for Reid, who is of Chinese heritage, will describe the moment in her speech as “surreal in the best way possible” after an “improbable candidacy” as her mother, Phet, and father, Syphan, look on.
Labor MP Sally Sitou will deliver her first speech to parliament with parents Phet and Syphan looking on. Credit:Edwina Pickles/ Brook Mitchell
“As I look around our House of Representatives today, it feels like finally it is starting to live up to its name,” Sitou will say in her speech, seen by The Sydney Morning Herald.
“A house made up of people who truly represent and reflect their communities.”
Sitou will reflect on the chequered history of migration policy in Australia, saying that “for much of our history, the path on which we walked was not towards multiculturalism but towards a White Australia policy”.
“It was a path that said there was no place in this country for people like me,” she will say.
“Those decisions were made based on fear and a failure of imagination. But we were able to fulfil the potential and promise of Australia, when leaders in this place were not driven by fear but by hope and compassion.”
Reid MP Sally Sitou attending her first Labor caucus meeting at Parliament House in May.Credit:James Brickwood
She will quote former prime minister Bob Hawke who said in parliament that Australia’s eventual bipartisan rejection of race as a factor in immigration policy was “a triumph of compassion over prejudice, of reason over fear, and of statesmanship over politics”.
Sitou grew up in Cabramatta in southwest Sydney and she and her brother were the first in the family to attend university. She describes herself as “the product of good public education”.
“Being elected into our federal parliament is a big deal, but it’s an even bigger deal for my parents.
“They fled their homeland, fearful of what might happen to them because of who they were and the values they held. Even after arriving here, they continued to carry that fear, not wanting to talk about politics or share their views.”
Sitou’s parents are this month celebrating their 40th anniversary of becoming Australian citizens.
“You can imagine what this moment means for them, how much they’ve come to embrace the very best of this country,” she will say.
“I marvel at how much has changed for our family in just one generation. And that is the power of the Australian story – because stories like mine are only possible in a country like Australia.”
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