KUALA LUMPUR: Muar-born Australian and member of parliament for Tangney, Sam Lim, in his inaugural speech in the Australian Parliament, thanked Malaysians for their support in Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin.
Lim, an Australian Labor Party MP, also emphasised promoting peace not only in the land Down Under, but also its neighbouring countries during his 20-minute speech.
The former policeman overturned a 9.5 per cent margin from the 2019 election to defeat Liberal Party MP Ben Morton in the general election held in May this year.
"Kepada semua saudara yang berada di Malaysia, Australia dan seluruh pelusuk dunia, terima kasih atas semua perhatian dan berkat yang anda berikan kepada saya. (To all my friends in Malaysia, Australia and around the world, thanks for the care and blessings you have given to me).
"Terima kasih atas semua sokongan dan bantuan anda semasa pilihan raya di Australia, terima kasih semua (Thank you for the support and help during the Australian general election, thank you all)," he said in his maiden address.
Lim, who migrated to Australia in 2002, said his party wanted to see Australia as a beacon of peace and maintain a good relationship with its neighbouring countries in Asia.
He said beating the drum for war was an unwise action because his party did not believe that war was the way to resolve humanitarian conflicts.
This, he said, was because the impact of war was too great to bear and all must learn from history which clearly shows that war only leads to destruction.
"War causes great consequence and financial, humanitarian, environmental crises in addition to bringing sadness and distress to many people.
"For that reason, I choose to live with four words — peace, love, respect and unity.
"I am representing an area that is 'home' for immigrants from 160 countries, particularly from war-torn countries in east Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan.
"They came to Australia because they wanted to rescue themselves from war and all they want is peace and to be able to live with their families." he said.