When Labor disastrously parachuted former NSW premier Kristina Keneally into the previously safe federal seat of Fowler in south-western Sydney, the party’s would-be local candidate, Vietnamese-Australian lawyer Tu Le, ignited a debate about lack of cultural diversity in the nation’s halls of power.
On Tuesday night, Le was named the overall winner in the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian Australian Awards, which seek to reshape the debate and confront the “bamboo ceiling” – a term to describe the under-representation of Asian-Australians in leadership positions.
Tu Le has been named the most influential Asian Australian of 2022.Credit:Steven Siewert
One of the program’s organisers, Jieh-Yung Lo, said the judging panel determined Le was the most influential Asian Australian in 2022 because she put the lack of Asian-Australian representation in politics on the national agenda.
“The debate really took flight because of her own personal and professional experiences and what happened last year with Fowler,” said Lo, founding director of the Australian National University Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership.
While the new federal parliament is the most diverse in the nation’s history, only 4.4 per cent of MPs have Asian heritage, compared with 17.4 per cent of people across the Australian population, according to Osmond Chiu, a research fellow at Per Capita think tank.
Le, 31, believes there was so much attention on the preselection process in Fowler – home to large numbers of people with Vietnamese and Chinese heritage – because it was common for Australians from marginalised communities to feel they had been overlooked due to assumptions based on their identity.
“My experience of being sidelined or elbowed out wasn’t a one-off thing, I’ve experienced that before in my career,” she said.
“A lot of people see that reflected in their own experiences of hitting that bamboo ceiling and not being able to progress despite having all the qualifications and experience to do so.”
Le, the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, has worked at a domestic and family sexual violence legal service, co-ordinated a law service for exploited migrant workers and is a leader at the Vietnamese Buddhist Youth Association.
She moved into Canley Vale – within the Fowler electorate – in 2020 and planned to run for preselection with the backing of retiring local MP Chris Hayes. When Labor installed Keneally in the seat as part of a factional deal, despite the fact she lived in Sydney’s affluent northern beaches, Le refused to disguise her frustration.
She described Keneally’s preselection as a “debacle” and said Fowler locals were furious about the party’s decision, incurring the wrath of some who accused her of white-anting the former NSW premier.
The debate about party machinations and Labor’s commitment to diversity went global. The New York Times reported Le had been “passed over for a white insider” in one of Sydney’s most diverse electorates, headlining its story: “A sea of white faces in Australia’s ‘party of multiculturalism’.
Now in their fourth year, the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian Australian Awards are an initiative of the Australian National University Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership, Asialink at the University of Melbourne and recruitment consulting firm Johnson Partners.
“There’s an absolute perception that Asian Australians are not ready, we’re not suitable … we have to wait our turn,” said Jieh-Yung Lo from the Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership.
“We are sick and tired of hearing that. These awards prove that Asian Australians are ready to take on these leadership positions.”
The decision to install Keneally as the ALP candidate in Fowler backfired spectacularly. In one of the biggest upsets of the 2022 election, there was a 16 per cent swing against Labor. Local independent Dai Le, a former refugee from Vietnam, won what had been one of the safest Labor seats in the country.
“I think it’s a huge lesson for all political parties in terms of not taking community for granted, particularly multicultural community,” Tu Le says.
“Oftentimes, communities are treated as just an easy vote, particularly where there has been a strong voting pattern for Labor. There’s no such thing now as a safe seat.”
Le said representation in parliament could be improved by preselecting diverse candidates in secure seats and considering diversity targets.
An ALP spokesperson said the result in Fowler would be among many questions the party asked former cabinet minister Greg Combet and former West Australian assistant secretary Lenda Oshalem to examine as part of its review of the 2022 election campaign. The review, which will make recommendations to federal Labor on political strategy and campaign development, is expected to report by the end of the year.
Other winners in the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian Australian awards are Associate Professor Rona Chandrawati in the science and medicine category, Belinda Bentley in the entrepreneurship section, Michelle Law in the arts and culture category and under-25 rising star Angelina Inthavong.
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