WEBVTT - How Chinese voters will shape the election

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<v Speaker 1>From Schwartz Media. I'm Daniel James. This is seven AM.

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<v Speaker 1>Australia's Chinese community proved to be a powerful voting block

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<v Speaker 1>in the last election, and as the time draws need

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<v Speaker 1>to vote again, more and more politicians are realizing that

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<v Speaker 1>appealing to the country's one point five million Chinese Australians

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<v Speaker 1>is key to electoral success. But as journalist Wing Quang

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<v Speaker 1>has found, the major party's attempts to court Chinese voters

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<v Speaker 1>are proving to be rocky. The Chinese owned Red Note

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<v Speaker 1>app is a new frontier in trying to reach Chinese voters,

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<v Speaker 1>but with speech of Red Note filled by an authoritarian regime,

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<v Speaker 1>eraises questions about how political debate in Australia is being

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<v Speaker 1>shaped by foreign rules. Today contributed to the Saturday Paper,

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<v Speaker 1>Wing Quang on how the Chinese community might shape the

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<v Speaker 1>outcome of the election and what they really think of

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<v Speaker 1>Albanesi and Dutton. It's Saturday, March fifteen, Willen, Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>the show. Do you have a Red Note account?

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<v Speaker 2>I do, and I have actually been a longtime fan

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<v Speaker 2>of Red Notes. I use the account to look for

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<v Speaker 2>recommendations on restaurants, on good shops, on brands, and how

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<v Speaker 2>to find the best outfit for my first job as well.

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<v Speaker 2>So red Notes was launched in twenty thirteen at a

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<v Speaker 2>time when China just had this massive boom of transborder

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<v Speaker 2>e commerce, which means that people look online and try

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<v Speaker 2>to buy products directly from overseas, and this is how

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<v Speaker 2>red Note was first launched as an overseas shopping guide.

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<v Speaker 2>Red Notes is quite similar to TikTok in terms of

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<v Speaker 2>how it used this algorithm that goes really strong on personalization,

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<v Speaker 2>making your feet customized on your interest, but also it

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<v Speaker 2>endorse a really strong geolocational algorithm. You can always see

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<v Speaker 2>posts shared by people who are nearby, and because of

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<v Speaker 2>that function, the app stand out among the Chinese diaspora.

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<v Speaker 2>So since twenty twenty one, red Note has become quite

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<v Speaker 2>a phenomenon within the Chinese Australian community. By November last year,

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<v Speaker 2>there are almost seven hundred thousand people in Australia actively

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<v Speaker 2>using red Notes. If you compare that to the Chinese

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<v Speaker 2>population in Australian which is one point four million, that's

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<v Speaker 2>like half of the Chinese population in Australia using the platform.

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<v Speaker 1>If it works through jail location, that sounds like it

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<v Speaker 1>would be useful for electoral politics. So have politicians been

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<v Speaker 1>using it?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So it makes it so easy for politicians to

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<v Speaker 2>make posts that target their local voters. ABC News actually

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<v Speaker 2>a research last November and it had found over twenty

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<v Speaker 2>politicians of all levels having an account on Red Notes.

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<v Speaker 2>So firstly from the current sitting MP at the federal level,

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<v Speaker 2>we have Liberal Parties Keith Wallacham who is from the

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<v Speaker 2>Siege of Menzies.

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<v Speaker 3>Dajah Howe Wargio, Keith Wallahan, your Federal Member of Parliament,

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<v Speaker 3>Josha Sarah, my wife. We wanted to wish you.

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<v Speaker 2>His electorate has a huge Chinese population and he's been

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<v Speaker 2>a star on Red Notes.

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<v Speaker 3>This is the Year of the Snake and I was

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<v Speaker 3>born in the Year of the Snake, and I know

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<v Speaker 3>that means it's a year of renewal and we need

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<v Speaker 3>that more than ever.

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<v Speaker 2>We also have Labor MP Karina Garland, who is from

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<v Speaker 2>the Siege of Chisholm, also another big Chinese electorate Kwala.

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<v Speaker 2>I wanted to take a moment to wish all Chinese

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<v Speaker 2>Australians in Tism a very happy Dragon Bribe festival. Also

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<v Speaker 2>in this election, I have spotted some first time running

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<v Speaker 2>Chinese Australians. One person I have spoken to is Wenley,

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<v Speaker 2>who's the Greens candidate for Boner in Queensland, and he's

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<v Speaker 2>using that platform to communicate with potential voters. But something

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<v Speaker 2>I do find very interesting is that the Greens has

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<v Speaker 2>always been very vocal in terms of like global human

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<v Speaker 2>rights issues, including China as well as the Israel Hama's War.

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<v Speaker 2>But I didn't really see these posts, and he told

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<v Speaker 2>me that it's not that he is not aware, but

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<v Speaker 2>he decides not to pose about the war on red

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<v Speaker 2>notes because he thinks that this is quite irrelevant to

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<v Speaker 2>the community, so he decides to just post topics that

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<v Speaker 2>the Chinese users are interested in, such as public transport,

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<v Speaker 2>such as immigration policy, small businesses, or economic policies.

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<v Speaker 1>Would there be any risk of him being seen or

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<v Speaker 1>banned by a Red Night if he was to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about China similars records for.

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<v Speaker 2>Example, Yes, And in fact redno has really clear terms

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<v Speaker 2>of services that state that your account could be investigated

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<v Speaker 2>or even suspended if you post anything that made damage

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<v Speaker 2>to Chinese national security, socialist system, or break any Chinese law.

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<v Speaker 2>So what made red noos very different from we chat

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<v Speaker 2>or tech Talk, which are the two major Chinese apps

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<v Speaker 2>that we are very familiar. Is that we chat and

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<v Speaker 2>tech talk are actually the international version of their Chinese prototype,

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<v Speaker 2>Wasting and Dogging. And the reason why they are the

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<v Speaker 2>international versions is because China implemented a really strong censorship

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<v Speaker 2>system and it also introduced two strong laws on data

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<v Speaker 2>and privacy which required all Chinese owned app operating in

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<v Speaker 2>China to pan the data to Beijing if Beijing wants

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<v Speaker 2>them to. This has sparked a lot of concern in

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<v Speaker 2>the international community, and so they introduce these international versions

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<v Speaker 2>to address the international regulations and also try to say

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<v Speaker 2>that we draw a line from our domestic apps. We

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<v Speaker 2>won't hand our data to Beijing if they request. But

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<v Speaker 2>Rednods is a purely local app for China. So what

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<v Speaker 2>happened right now is there have been lots of federal

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<v Speaker 2>politicians in Australia using the app to post politics related stuff,

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<v Speaker 2>but they somehow just got shadowed banned. So, for example,

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<v Speaker 2>Keith Willaholm and Karina Garland, their accounts still exist, but

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<v Speaker 2>when you try to type their name on the search

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<v Speaker 2>it never occurs coming up.

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<v Speaker 1>After the break, how the major parties cut through when

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<v Speaker 1>censorship on red note stops them from speaking to Chinese voters.

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<v Speaker 4>Hi Ruby Jones. Here seven am tells stories that need

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<v Speaker 4>and now we're increasing our coverage. Every Saturday until the

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<v Speaker 1>When you've been reporting on how candidates are trying to

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<v Speaker 1>reach Chinese voters in the lead up to the election.

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<v Speaker 1>So what do we know about how the Chinese community

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<v Speaker 1>voted last time around?

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<v Speaker 2>I think in twenty twenty two, after losing several key

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<v Speaker 2>Liberal seats such as Cheers them, the Liberal Party actually

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<v Speaker 2>the internal review and they said that they lose the

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<v Speaker 2>Chinese Australian voters because of their stands on China being

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<v Speaker 2>too hotkysh. When the COVID started, Scott Morrison directly told

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<v Speaker 2>all the international students to go home, and following that

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<v Speaker 2>his government was the one that requests an independent inquiry

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<v Speaker 2>into the COVID nineteenth region and that annoyed China and

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<v Speaker 2>as a result it was seen at the beginning of

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<v Speaker 2>five year long trade disputes and within the Chinese Australian community,

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<v Speaker 2>this group of people suffered a lot as a result

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<v Speaker 2>of the dispute and as a result, you can see

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<v Speaker 2>the Liberal Party this time tried really hard to win

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<v Speaker 2>back the voters from the Chinese community. Not only did

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<v Speaker 2>they just start the launch in Chisholm, but also Peter

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<v Speaker 2>Dunham himself had said that I'm going to be very

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<v Speaker 2>pro China this time.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, I'm probably China and the relationship that we have

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<v Speaker 5>with them, and I want that trading relationship to increase,

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<v Speaker 5>and nobody's against pandas of course.

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<v Speaker 1>But so Hel was being pro panned working at for

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<v Speaker 1>Peter Dutton.

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<v Speaker 2>I have seen a few commons saying that I don't

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<v Speaker 2>want to vote for Labor, but I would never ever

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<v Speaker 2>vote for Peter Dutton. Chinese voters remember what Peter Dutton

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<v Speaker 2>was like when he was holding the Homo face portfolio.

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<v Speaker 2>Don't forget that many of these people were actually first

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<v Speaker 2>generation migrants who went through the law migration process, probably

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<v Speaker 2>under Peter Dutton. So I think they have been trying

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<v Speaker 2>to push some more moderate faces to the Chinese Australian

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<v Speaker 2>community and one of the candidates that they have spent

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of marketing and advertising on is Scott Young,

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<v Speaker 2>who is running for the seat for ben Alone, which

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<v Speaker 2>is now held by labor Well.

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<v Speaker 1>In the heart of bad Along. Tonight Ingladesville with Maria

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<v Speaker 1>and Susan talking to many small business owners who are

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<v Speaker 1>working so so hard during this time. Maria, thanks for Banahi,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you for having us. Scott and thank you.

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<v Speaker 2>Been known by the community since his first run for politics,

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<v Speaker 2>probably back in twenty nineteen, and he does have this

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<v Speaker 2>handsome look, successful entrepreneur, great son of Chinese migrant parents.

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<v Speaker 6>One of the things that excites me most about Scott

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<v Speaker 6>is that those young kids in the local primary school

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<v Speaker 6>today will be able to look to Scott when he

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<v Speaker 6>goes as a member for ben Along to that local

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<v Speaker 6>school to present the certificates to go to the fundraising and.

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<v Speaker 2>Scott Young has also been seen as like one of

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<v Speaker 2>those young Chinese Australians who actively engage in the community

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<v Speaker 2>and speak up for the community.

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<v Speaker 6>Those young Asian kids in particular will look at him

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<v Speaker 6>and they will be inspired by him to take part

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<v Speaker 6>in public life themselves to join the Great Liberal Party, so.

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<v Speaker 2>I could understand why this time the Liberals actually invested

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<v Speaker 2>a lot on Scott your own to and promote himself

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<v Speaker 2>on Chinese social media.

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<v Speaker 1>And what about the government, how are they faring with

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<v Speaker 1>Chinese vote?

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<v Speaker 2>From the comments I've seen on red Notes, people do

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<v Speaker 2>give a lot of acknowledgment on Labor for fixing the

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<v Speaker 2>Australian China relationships and also talking about how Ethny Albanizi

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<v Speaker 2>being a very underground politician under the leadership of Foreign

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<v Speaker 2>Minister Penny Wall, who by the way, was also a

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<v Speaker 2>very popular leader among the Chinese Australians. We saw that

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<v Speaker 2>China lifted up bands on Australian wine, Australian lobster and

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<v Speaker 2>also beef and Labor party has tried to use this

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<v Speaker 2>as their advantage for this election by reminding people that

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<v Speaker 2>they have been a contributor of the Australian Chinese relations

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<v Speaker 2>and they are the one that fixed the problem. But

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<v Speaker 2>probably to the surprise of many people, China itself is

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<v Speaker 2>actually not on the top of a gender for this

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<v Speaker 2>election among the community because of living and migration policies

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<v Speaker 2>are the two big topics that people who discuss a

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<v Speaker 2>lodge and it seems to going to be the very

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<v Speaker 2>issue that will affect how Chinese Australian community will vote

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<v Speaker 2>this time.

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<v Speaker 1>What do you think politicians are missing if they overlook

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<v Speaker 1>the Chinese community in elections.

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<v Speaker 2>The Chinese community is always perceived as being a political

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<v Speaker 2>as someone that just want to earn money go for

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<v Speaker 2>the business, but people are trying to learn more about

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<v Speaker 2>the politics. Last year during the local government elections, we

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<v Speaker 2>are seeing an increased number of Chinese Australians running for

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<v Speaker 2>politics and that says something. What Australian politicians should pay

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<v Speaker 2>attention to is the genuine, authentic discussion about the election

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<v Speaker 2>from the Chinese Australian community. Lots of the users of

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<v Speaker 2>Redinoes are like the young, well educated people in their

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<v Speaker 2>mid thirties and many of them will be first generation

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<v Speaker 2>migrants who can actually vote, and they have had some

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<v Speaker 2>really interesting discussion about this coming election.

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<v Speaker 1>Willing thank you so much for your time and thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for speaking with us.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you so much Daniel for having me.

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<v Speaker 1>Seven Am was a daily show from Schwartz Media and

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<v Speaker 1>the Saturday Paper is made by Atticus Basto, Shane Anderson,

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<v Speaker 1>Chris Dangate, Daniel James, Eric Jensen, Ruby Jones, Sarah mcvee,

0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:44.000
<v Speaker 1>Travis Evans, and Zaltenfecho. Our theme music is by Ned

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<v Speaker 1>Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Portio. We'll be back

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<v Speaker 1>on Monday with a special two part episode taking a

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<v Speaker 1>closer look at Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency,

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<v Speaker 1>and what it looks like when you try to run

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<v Speaker 1>the US government like a tech company. See you then,

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<v Speaker 1>and