Batong Pham

Batong Vu Pham (born 18 June 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Council since November 2007, representing East Metropolitan Province. He was elected on a countback when MLC Louise Pratt resigned to run for the Senate, and will leave parliament in 2009, after losing preselection to recontest his seat.

Pham was born in the town of Ba Ria, Vietnam, near Long Tan. His family fled the Vietnam War when he was a baby, reaching Malaysia, where they gained refugee status, ultimately migrating to Australia in 1969. [ [http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/hansard/hans35.nsf/NFS/ff55b6b9549e04a0c825743900280411?OpenDocument "Batong Vu Pham: Inaugural speech"] . "Parliament of Western Australia", 8 April 2008.] His family settled in Perth, where he became a strawberry farmer. [Taylor, Robert. "Would-be Labor MP battling the odds". "The West Australian", 18 October 2007.] Pham joined the Labor Party in 1996, and was a protege of former MP Ted Cunningham. 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. [Taylor, Robert and Videnieks, Monica. "Faction fighters point to Gallop leadership failure: countdown to trouble". "The West Australian", 1 May 2004.]

Pham received a second opportunity to enter parliament when, in late 2006, fellow MLC Louise Pratt 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. [Murray, Paul. "Voters just poles in the park". "The West Australian", 7 October 2006.] However, in June 2007, while still awaiting Pratt's resignation, Pham suffered a massive brain aneurysm, resulting in his near death, lengthy hospitalisation, and confinement to a wheelchair. [Taylor, Robert. "Would-be Labor MP battling the odds". "The West Australian", 18 October 2007.] 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. [Taylor, Robert and Strutt, Jessica. "Labor loses its Council majority". "The West Australian", 9 November 2007.] 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. [Banks, Amanda. "New MP too ill to attend Parliament". "The West Australian", 29 November 2007.] Pham made his inaugural speech to parliament 4½ months later, on 8 April. [ [http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/hansard/hans35.nsf/NFS/ff55b6b9549e04a0c825743900280411?OpenDocument "Batong Vu Pham: Inaugural speech"] . "Parliament of Western Australia", 8 April 2008.]

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. [Strutt, Jessica. "Premier's pick is not a starter". "The West Australian", 22 April 2008.] [Strutt, Jessica and Taylor, Robert. "Upper House chief Nick Griffiths dumped for ageing union boss". "The West Australian", 24 April 2008.] However, the faction's support was not enough, and on 19 May, Pham lost a preselection vote by six votes to lawyer Linda Savage, who had been endorsed by Premier Alan Carpenter. [Strutt, Jessica. "Labor party dumps sitting members in preselection battles". "The West Australian", 24 April 2008.] The decision sparked an angry response from Pham's allies within the party, including Housing Minister Michelle Roberts and former minister John D'Orazio. It also received strong criticism from members of the state's Ethnic Communities Council and the media. [O'Brien, Amanda. "Labor faces backlash over dumped MP". "The West Australian", 22 May 2008.] [O'Brien, Amanda. "State of the nation: Western Australia". "The Australian", 24 May 2008.] Pham will thus leave parliament in May 2009 when the new Legislative Council is sworn in.

References

Persondata
NAME=Pham, Batong
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=18 June 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH=Ba Ria, Vietnam
DATE OF DEATH=living
PLACE OF DEATH=