Dai Le

Dai Le took a critical blow after wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress emblazoned with the Australian flag during her maiden speech in Canberra's ...

After her rousing maiden speech a huge crowd in the gallery gave her a standing ovation, including many of Vietnamese heritage in traditional dress, and chanted her name. Ms Le received a standing ovation and the admiration of her peers after her rousing speech at parliament on Monday The member for Fowler wore the dress during her maiden speech in which she spoke of the harrowing journey she and her family took as they fled Vietnam During her speech on Monday, Ms Le recounted the harrowing journey she and her family had taken while travelling to Australia. Ms Le described the flag as representing a second lease on life for her family after they were forced to flee Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon in April 1975. [3AW](https://www.3aw.com.au/australian-politician-splits-opinion-with-dress-in-parliament/) morning presenter Neil Mitchell, Ms Le shrugged away criticism saying the dress paid homage to her heritage and her love for Australia.

Independent MP Dai Le has used her first speech to promise to advocate for her electorate of Fowler, which she says has been neglected and taken for ...

"I remember the moment when we were accepted to be resettled as refugees in Australia ... not just at election time but every day," she said on Monday. "We are the forgotten people and yet we are the backbone of Australia." "While it is a privilege to represent the people of Fowler, we are not a privileged people. "It's a celebration of our nation and all the possibilities it delivers." While the Australian flag has been a subject of controversy, Ms Le said it's a representation of the country that welcomed her as a refugee and represents "hope, freedom and endless possibilities."

Independent MP Dai Le has given a powerful maiden speech to parliament in which she described fleeing Vietn...

I remember how my face almost hit the ocean as our boat dropped so hard from the storm and my mother's warning that I had to hold onto my sister and the plastic canister just in case the boat would tip over until we could find one another. I remember seeing bodies lying on the boat like dead corpses." Because none of us could swim... Le's address was also noteworthy for her attire. I remember being soaking wet as the ocean hit us in the rain poured down. "I remember the moment when we thought we would die when a huge storm hit our boat," she said.

As the independent member for one of Australia's most diverse electorates, she delivered her speech in a dress like none other – a traditional Vietnamese áo dài ...

[David Crowe](/by/david-crowe-h0waa9)is chief political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via “If we answer that question with humility, then we will recognise the limits of military power alone. “I’m somebody who has embraced both the Australian culture and the Vietnamese culture and that’s what I want to celebrate – the multicultural Australia that we have here. Le said her community reacted strongly to Labor’s attempt to “parachute” someone into the community but did not name or criticise Keneally. If we answer that question with honesty, then we will have demonstrated that ours is an open and accountable democracy. She became a journalist and, later, a city councillor in Fairfield in western Sydney.