![\"Wesa](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Wesa-Chau\u2014from-campaign-FB-site\u2014link-in-doc.png?resize=325%2C495\")
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By\u00a0Georgie Moore The first piece on Higgins:\u00a0Costello country: Higgins by @gemoo4<\/a><\/p>\n This is the first of a series of Q&As, where I talk personal and party politics with the candidates for the Higgins electorate. Next, I will speak with Greens candidate James Harrison<\/i>.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: So Wesa, how did you get into politics?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I\u2019ve actually joined the party since 2004. So it\u2019s been a while and I\u2019ve been doing a lot of activities around community work. I\u2019ve been doing a little bit of community work and through that, I get you know, an understanding of how the political system works.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: In what kind of community work were you involved?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: In 2002, I started the Australian Federation of International Students (AFIS) and that was to assist international students understand Australia a bit more and also bridge the gap between the two groups of people. And then I was awarded the Young Victorian of the Year in 2010 mainly for that work and I also started working for ADEC, Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities\u2026 which works with people with disability from ethnic communities.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Getting into politics, why did you join the ALP?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well I joined the ALP because, when I do my work within the community, I see a lot of difficulties from people from very different backgrounds and policies of the ALP actually assist a lot of those people.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: To what particular policies are you referring?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, in terms of international students, because I founded the [AFIS] organisation in 2002. And throughout that time there was a few initiatives that were taking [place] at the time of the Labor Government in support of international students.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: What were those initiatives?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: The establishment of the international student care services and also just money in terms of supporting international students during their study as well. I guess that was the main reason. And also at the time it was the Labor politicians who were quite interested to assist. We also tried talking to some of the Liberal politicians at the time as well but they weren\u2019t really that interested. I guess that\u2019s what really inspired me in terms of which party to join.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: What made you run for the seat of Higgins?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I thought it\u2019d be good to run because this\u00a0[past] few years, there has been a lot of things that I see that I thought, you know really should be changed.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: What kind of things?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, first of all, as you know, the lack of women voices. And I\u2019ve been a strong advocate on that as well.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: The current member for Higgins is a woman. So what makes you say there are a lack of female voices in the seat?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, not in the seat, but in politics in general. So I wasn\u2019t looking at Kelly O\u2019Dwyer and saying \u201cI want to challenge her\u201d. It was more the fact that both within the Liberals\u2014more so in the Liberals\u2014but also in the Labor Party, that we don\u2019t have a strong female voice and diverse voice as well. We\u2019re not just talking about women; we\u2019re talking also about people with disability, as well as people from diverse background.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Can you tell me a little bit about your background?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I came from Hong Kong. I came with my parents in 89. So, when I was seven at the time, with my sister [and] basically our whole family migrated here.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Do you see yourself as adding to the political diversity of which you speak?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Oh, absolutely. Yeah\u2014being, you know, female as well as being Asian.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: You have spoken about your passion for helping international students. Is this reflective of any difficulties you experienced when you first came to Australia?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: It was mainly driven by the fact that I, when I first came, it was very difficult to settle\u2014just not knowing what to do and going to school and [you] don\u2019t have any friends and feeling a bit of isolation. And then, obviously, you know, you get settled down. And it\u2019s much easier when you\u2019re a bit younger as well, because the schools actually assist as well. But when I started at university [University of Melbourne, Engineering and Commerce], I had a lot of international student friends. And so I saw their difficulties. And it\u2019s much harder for them because they don\u2019t have family here. At least when I was young, I had my family with me. So I guess having that experience and then having a lot of friends who I saw actually struggle a lot made me decide to start the organisation.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Moving on, Higgins is one of Victoria\u2019s safest Liberal seats. What do you think your chances with the candidacy are?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Higgins is a non-held [Labor] seat. But at the same time, I mean, when we talk about very safe Liberal seats, the margin is only 5.4%\u2014so not very, very high. And between every election, approximately 30% of people who shift move into the electorate. So we\u2019ve got a lot of new people. And also, after the 2010 redistribution, Carnegie was added to Higgins. So, if you talk about chance of winning, Higgins is becoming marginal, that\u2019s for sure. And that\u2019s what our aim is.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: So, you disagree with this idea Higgins is one of Victoria\u2019s safest Liberal seats?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I would say it\u2019s definitely becoming more marginal and they [the Liberals] definitely have to lift their game in order to maintain it. So I think that margin is definitely reducing.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: How much of the seat do you expect to gain this year?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I wouldn\u2019t put a percentage on it, but [I] definitely want to increase the number of primary votes and reduce the margin\u2026 especially around the Prahran area, the Windsor area, [and] the Carnegie areas. That\u2019s my aim.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Why those areas?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well those are traditionally more Labor-leaning areas. Also, they\u2019re younger areas as well. So they\u2019re the people that I can really relate to and, yeah, there are actually a lot of young people who now live in Windsor and Prahran and [that] type of area because of the university.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: In the 2010 election, The Greens saw a seven percent swing in their favour [in the seat of Higgins]. How threatened do you feel by the Greens candidacy this time around?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, obviously, you know, a lot of people now are voting Greens. At the same time though, it\u2019s important to understand that if you both have a look at the Liberals and the Greens, they don\u2019t have a lot of real policies. So, if you are really thinking about how to run the country, I don\u2019t think people are just going to vote for the Greens just for the sake of it. There will still be a lot of people who are looking at real policies, real reforms and will vote accordingly.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: How do you think Kevin Rudd\u2019s leadership revival will impact your performance in Higgins?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I wouldn\u2019t necessarily talk about leadership because, I mean, you can look at the poll data but who knows whether it\u2019s accurate. The important thing is what\u2019s going to happen on polling day.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: The polls are often an indicator of what will happen on polling day.<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: It could be but it\u2019s not necessarily accurate. So my aim is to make sure I run a good campaign and make sure the messages from the Labor Party get out there to the community\u2014regardless of who the leader is.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Did you support Julia Gillard until the leadership spill?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I joined the Labor party because of the party, not because of whoever the leader is. Because, the leader changes every couple of years. That\u2019s just the nature of any political parties. I\u2019m there to stand for Labor values, not because of Gillard or Kevin Rudd.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Did you want Gillard to retain the ALP leadership?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: It\u2019s not about who\u2019s in leadership. And it really doesn\u2019t matter who the leader is. The important thing is to get the messages from the Labor party out in the community.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: But do you feel the recent Rudd victory and the concurrent turnabout in Labor polls will help you do this?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: For me, it\u2019s not necessarily about who\u2019s the leader. It\u2019s about getting out to the community and tell people what the Labor values are and that\u2019s what I will continue doing\u2014regardless of who the leader is.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: What is your campaign game plan?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: There\u2019ll be a big mix of what we\u2019re going to do. We\u2019ve just had a forum on disability and we\u2019ll have more forums coming up as well. We\u2019ll be on the street talking to residents and we had a couple of street stalls already. We\u2019ll be door knocking and letter boxing and going to various railway stations. Just getting out to the community and really talk to people.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Moving on, you support Rainbow Labor [for same-sex marriage], don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I\u2019m not officially part of it, but I support it.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Have you always supported same-sex marriage?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, I\u2019ve always supported equality, and I think same-sex marriage is part of that belief. So, it\u2019s just one of those things that I believe should be treated equality.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Going to a key election issue\u2014asylum seekers\u2014which has been particularly interesting since Rudd regained Prime Ministership, what is your position on asylum seekers arriving in Australia via boat?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: In terms of what should be done, I think it\u2019s difficult for us sitting here to say what should be done. Because, it\u2019s a very complex issue where you have people who are fleeing for their lives, which should be treated in a humane way. At the same time, you can\u2019t just open all your borders and say, \u201cyou\u2019re most welcome to come”. That\u2019s not going to work either. And so it\u2019s really hard for us without the relevant information to make that judgement.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: To what \u201crelevant information\u201d are you referring?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: The numbers of people who are arriving, the situation of those people. You know, the actual processing details. How it\u2019s done\u2026 Because, it\u2019s not that easy. I mean, if you have a look at paperwork from some countries, it might not be very accurate on those people. And that needs to be taken into consideration as well\u2026 So there are a lot of considerations that need to happen. And it\u2019s hard to make a call for us who don\u2019t really understand the sector that well, to be saying well this needs to be done or that needs to be done.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: If you do not understand such a high national priority, what makes you feel qualified to act as a representative for the seat of Higgins?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: When I said I don\u2019t understand the actual issue, what I mean is, I don\u2019t have the actual information, right. You\u2019re asking for very detail information and you\u2019re expecting me to agree and disagree with something when I don\u2019t have the information at hand. That\u2019s unfair.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: When you talk about required information, it brings to mind the \u2018No Advantage\u2019 policy where processing of asylum seekers ceased last August. Do you support a system where asylum seekers are left to sit in processing camps?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: In terms of um the timeline of asylum seekers, I\u2019m more supportive of doing anything as quickly as possible you know. For me it\u2019s about efficiency. But it\u2019d be interesting to know why it\u2019s been set\u00a0there.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: The policy was born out of the Government\u2019s response to the Houston Report. So is that not at odds with your view of getting people through the system as quickly as possible?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well look, you\u2019re asking a candidate without the relevant information. I\u2019m not the Minister\u2026. I\u2019m actually speaking to our community about what I believe in. And I believe in fair treatment. I believe in equality, whatever that could mean.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: But you said you supported getting asylum seekers through the system as soon as possible. Does that mean you don\u2019t support your party\u2019s no advantage policy where processing of asylum seekers ceased in August 2012?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I believe in what I believe in.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Which is?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: In terms of what you\u2019re asking about, as I said, I don\u2019t have the information. There might be a reason why the party decides that. I believe in getting people through as quickly as possible. But, at the same time, it could mean that the\u2014it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the policy is wrong. But the policy is determined because of the information they have got, right.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: But going from the information we\u2019ve talked about. So what is your view?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, look, there\u2019s no point talking about this. This could change tomorrow, OK. You can continue asking me questions, but the problem is the, as you know\u2026 the Prime Minister might change it tomorrow. There\u2019s no point really talking about it.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Do you support Rudd\u2019s increasingly hardline stance on asylum seekers arriving via boat?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well as I said previously, I mean, it\u2019s hard for us to make that call because we don\u2019t have all the information. And it\u2019d almost like saying, \u201cwell do you believe in something\u201d when you really don\u2019t have the information in front of you.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: What is your position on Foreign Minister Bob Carr\u2019s comments that the majority of asylum seekers arriving in Australia via boat, particularly from places such as Iran, are \u201ceconomic migrants\u201d?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well as I said, you know, I don\u2019t have the information to make a proper comment on it because I don\u2019t know who are coming by boats. I\u2019m not there to count them. I\u2019m not there to ask them where they\u2019re from and why they\u2019re here. So it\u2019s impossible, in fact, to say well are they economic migrants or genuine refugees or even business migrants. Who knows?<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Do you believe \u201ceconomic migrants\u201d, to use the popular phrase, are not \u201cgenuine\u201d asylum seekers?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Look, I\u2019ve said I don\u2019t want to answer questions in relation to this because I\u2019m not the Minister and I don\u2019t have the information at hand to answer those questions.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Moving on to another hot election topic, what is you position on anthropogenic [human-induced] climate change?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, personally, for me, I think we need to ensure that our earth is sustainable, that to ensure that we actually protect it and to, you know, do whatever we can in order to basically reduce carbon emissions.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Would you support the carbon price as it currently stands or would you favour a move to an emissions trading scheme?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: If you have a look at the current carbon price, it\u2019s actually working. So I don\u2019t see any reason whatsoever why we should be changing. And it\u2019s actually reducing emissions now, so it\u2019s obviously working. So I think we should retain it.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Coming back to local politics, what issues do you think most concern the people of Higgins?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well, the feedback that I\u2019ve been getting from people, when I\u2019m out on the street, they\u2019re really concerned about their children\u2019s future. A lot of them are talking about education for their kids, jobs for their kids.<\/p>\n Georgie:\u00a0<\/b>That raises an interesting point, because almost all the schools in the seat of Higgins are private. Is that something that you\u2019d like to see change?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well there is currently no Government high schools,\u00a0that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: There is actually the selective boys State school, Melbourne High, in the City of Stonnington. But would you like to see more non-government schools?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: Well absolutely. I mean, some of the people who talk to me said, you know, it\u2019s hard to find school for their kids and they don\u2019t necessarily want to go to an independent school because the school fees are too expensive. So I think there needs to be a bit more balance.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: If you won, would you be pushing for the construction of another State high school in the seat?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: If there\u2019s a site for it and if there are enough people that need it, absolutely.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: Just before we finish up, and given the expected [electoral] trajectory of Higgins, I want to know what is next for you politically.<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: At the moment I actually run my own business [Cultural Intelligence]. So, I work as a consultant doing training in terms of cross-cultural understanding\u2014so cultural awareness, cultural competency, that area. I do research as well.<\/p>\n Georgie<\/b>: So what is next for you after the election?<\/p>\n Chau<\/b>: I\u2019ll still be running my business\u2026 And if there\u2019s another opportunity, I might run again. But that really all depends.<\/p>\n Read More: By\u00a0Georgie Moore 11 July 2013 The first piece on Higgins:\u00a0Costello country: Higgins by @gemoo4 This is the first of a series of Q&As, where I talk personal and party politics with the candidates for the Higgins electorate. Next, I will speak with Greens candidate James Harrison. Georgie: So Wesa, how did you get into politics? 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\n<\/a>11 July 2013<\/p>\n
\n<\/span>Wesa Chau\u00a0Facebook page
\n<\/a>More Citizen Reports on Seats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"