Batong Vu Pham (born 18 June 1967) is an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

from November 2007 to May 2009. He was elected on a countback when

Louise Pratt Louise Clare Pratt (born 18 April 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016, and previously from 2008 to 2014. She is a member of the Labor Party, and served as a member of the Western Australian ...

resigned to run for the Senate, but was defeated for Labor preselection to run for a full term in the 2008 election. Pham was born in the town of

Bà Rịa Bà Rịa () is a city in Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province in the Southeast region of Vietnam. Bà Rịa is split from Vũng Tàu by a river crossed by Cỏ May Bridge. This is the '' de jure'' seat of the province since most of the provincial a ...

, South Vietnam, near Long Tân in Phước Tuy province (now in

Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu ) is a province of Vietnam. It is located on the coast of the country's Southeast region. It also includes the Côn Đảo islands, located some distance off Vietnam's southeastern coast. From 1954 to 1975, under South ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

). His family fled the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

when he was a baby, reaching

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, where they gained refugee status, ultimately migrating to Australia in 1969."Batong Vu Pham: Inaugural speech"
.

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative ...

, 8 April 2008. His family settled in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, where he became a strawberry farmer.Taylor, Robert. "Would-be Labor MP battling the odds". ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

'', 18 October 2007. Pham joined the Labor Party in 1996, and was a protégé of former MP

Ted Cunningham Edward Joseph Cunningham (born 26 November 19372 November 2003) was an Australian politician. Cunningham was born in Clayfield in Brisbane and arrived in Western Australia in 1971. Before entering politics he was a marketing manager and public s ...

. Heavily associated with the New Right faction and seen as a "rising star", he sought preselection for the 2005 state election, but was forced to settle for the unwinnable fourth position in East Metropolitan. Pham received a second opportunity to enter parliament when, in late 2006, fellow MLC

won preselection for a safe seat in the Australian Senate, as part of a factional deal to allow Pham to contest the countback for her seat in the Legislative Council. However, in June 2007, while still awaiting Pratt's resignation, Pham suffered a massive

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a brain aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. Aneurysms in the posterior circ ...

, resulting in his near death, lengthy hospitalisation, and confinement to a wheelchair. This caused concerns of a crisis in the near-deadlocked Legislative Council after Pratt's resignation in October, as the opposition would not confirm whether they would grant a 'pair' for the ill Pham. He was nonetheless sworn in on 26 November 2007, but was forced to take an immediate leave of absence, being too ill to attend further sittings. Pham made his inaugural speech to parliament 4½ months later, on 8 April. Labor preselections for the forthcoming state election, due in late 2008 or early 2009, began in early 2008, and Pham announced an intention to recontest, receiving the strong support of his New Right faction. The faction, whose support was waning, chose to support Pham over veteran MLC and Legislative Council President

Nick Griffiths Nicholas (Nick) David Griffiths (born 24 December 1951) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council representing the East Metropolitan Region. Griffiths was born in Barry, Wales. Elected to Par ...

. However, the faction's support was not enough, and on 19 May, Pham lost a preselection vote by six votes to Fiona Henderson, who had been endorsed by Premier

Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...

. The decision sparked an angry response from Pham's allies within the party, including Housing Minister

Michelle Roberts Michelle Hopkins Roberts (née Thomas; born 29 February 1960) is an Australian politician currently serving as Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. She has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly since 1994. S ...

and former minister

John D'Orazio John Biase D'Orazio (5 September 1955 – 11 April 2011) was an Australian politician who served as the member for Ballajura in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 10 February 2001 to 6 September 2008. He was a minister in the go ...

. It also received strong criticism from members of the state's Ethnic Communities Council and the media.O'Brien, Amanda. "State of the nation: Western Australia". ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', 24 May 2008. Pham left Parliament in May 2009, when the new Legislative Council was sworn in.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pham, Batong 1967 births Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Vietnamese emigrants to Australia People from Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province Australian politicians of Vietnamese descent Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians