At the age of 38, the former mayor of the City of Ryde in northern Sydney, Jerome Laxale, was elected as the Member for Bennelong in the recently-concluded federal election, succeeding the retiring veteran Liberal MP John Alexander and becoming only the second Labor MP after Maxine McKew to ever hold office in the electorate.
Almost 54 per cent of the residents in Bennelong were born outside Australia, according to the latest . Mr Laxale says he was humbled to represent them in the 47th Parliament.
“Bennelong is incredibly diverse, [it has] a huge local Chinese-Australian population, a large number of Korean-Australians and those originally from the [Indian] Subcontinent.
“So, I feel at home here because I’ve got a very similar story. Both my parents were born overseas, English was not my first language. It’s a story that’s shared across cultures,” he told SBS Chinese.
Read this story in Chinese
雪梨華人區新任國會議員「會學中文」 冀與居民一對一交流了解需要
Mr Laxale believes his electorate “really wanted a change”.
“Whilst it’s rare for Labor to win Bennelong, it wasn’t a surprise after being in the field for two weeks. But I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” he added.
Prior to the federal election, he had served as a councillor in the City of Ryde from the age of 28 and went on to become its youngest-ever and longest-serving Labor mayor from 2015 at the age of 31.
Mr Laxale, who joined the Labor Party when he was just 21, says his main motivation for entering politics was to help people, even if it “sounds really corny”.
“I saw politics from a very early age. There are not many professions in which you can help people as much as [you can in] politics,” he said.
Learning Mandarin and Cantonese
The latest Census shows that 28.8 per cent of Bennelong’s population is of Chinese ancestry, just 0.1 per cent less than the Melbourne electorate of Chisholm, making it the nation’s second-largest Chinese-Australian electorate.
Mr Laxale says he intends to further develop his strong relationship with the local Chinese community, including creating opportunities for having one-on-one conversations with the residents.
“What we intend to do is hire someone as our member of staff who speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, so that we can have that direct contact with those who have English as a second language,” he told SBS Chinese.
Going the extra mile, he also plans to learn a bit of both languages during his three-year term.
“I only know a few words here and there, like ni-hao [hello], xie-xie [thank you], but I would like to learn a lot more.
“I don't think I'll quite get to the Kevin Rudd-level of Mandarin by the end of my three-year term. My goal is ultimately to be able to have a pretty basic conversation in Mandarin, and a few words in Cantonese,” Mr Laxale added.
Jerome Laxale defeated Liberal Party candidate Simon Kennedy at the 2022 Federal Election in May. The latest Census data showed 28.8 per cent of Bennelong’s population is of Chinese ancestry. Source: SBS / Ranky Law
She says the Chinese community is not a homogenous community, but is a group of people who have vastly diverse backgrounds, highly educated, socio-economically engaged and who are relatively affluent, and that Mr Laxale should make additional efforts to understand that.
“What he’s proposing to do is so tokenistic. The community deserves more than that,” Ms Lai told SBS Chinese.
“Understanding that historical and cultural context of the Chinese diaspora and engaging with its diversity, will really help him better engage with the community and represent their voice,” she added.
As an executive coach herself, Ms Lai suggests Mr Laxale to sponsor local Chinese-Australians to be leaders within the Labor Party and be mentored by Chinese-Australian community leaders.
Language and culture barriers
Diversity advocate and political commentator Jeffery Wang says he welcomes Mr Laxale making the effort to communicate and connect with the members of the Chinese community, “whichever side of politics they’re on”.
But he emphasises that when communicating across cultures, “it’s a lot more than just a language barrier”.
“There’s a cultural barrier as well, and how successful Jerome could be, depends on how culturally competent he is.
“So, hopefully, having grown up in Ryde, he has some strong connections with the community.
“I think that’s the kind of relationship we need in order to have effective engagement of the community. But unfortunately, in my experience in looking at politics, that connection tends to be very skin-deep,” Mr Wang told SBS Chinese.
“Hats off to him for making the effort [to learn the languages], but the proof is in the pudding. Can he advocate the intricate issues of the community – can he understand and speak out for us,” he wondered.
Mr Wang also recognises the diverse views within the Chinese community, which he believes contributed to the Coalition’s election loss.
“They’re not happy with Scott Morrison but for completely different reasons. Some of them [point to] the handling of the pandemic, how he managed the Budget. And then there are others who are not happy about the rhetoric on China, and the state of the economy.
“But it’s a very diverse range of opinions that gets lost in the mainstream media,” Mr Wang said.
Mending ties with China
More than two months into his new job, Mr Laxale says repairing the vexed diplomatic relations with China was “incredibly important” for the Chinese community in his electorate.
“They’re telling me that the freeze of China that the Morrison government did for purely political reasons, not strategic reasons, hurt them in a day-to-day sense, being attacked in the streets, just for looking Chinese and speaking Chinese.
“That needs to stop. And re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Chinese government is a huge step forward.
“It’s in our interest, and it’s in China’s interest for us to have a professional, respectful relationship,” Mr Laxale said.
Member for Bennelong Jerome Laxale talks to SBS at an election exchange event prior to the election on Saturday, May 7. Source: SBS / Ashley Mar
“Never before have I ever heard politicians use language like ‘together’, ‘family’, ‘shared prosperity’. But [foreign minister] Penny Wong has brought that language into the political landscape.
“And that is the kind of language I would like to see more of right across the Labor leadership,” she added.
Telling the story of Bennelong
A father of three children, Mr Laxale says it could be a challenge to balance work and family life, but he’s also excited to represent the electorate over the next three years.
“It’ll be a new experience juggling that with family life, so trying to figure out how that all works will be a bit of a challenge, but one that I’m really excited to have the opportunity to do,” he said.
“Ultimately, my goal is helping people and I just enjoy doing that,” he added.
Hinting at the key themes in his maiden speech, Mr Laxale says the Bennelong community and what is important to them would be his focus.
“I love the story of the new Bennelong – migrant families choosing this area to live, raise their young kids and set up their businesses.
“That’s a very similar story to that of my parents, and I’d love to share that story with Parliament when I get the opportunity,” he signed off.
