Members of the local Chinese community have raised their concerns about the growing number of racist incidents in the St George community.
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Kogarah MP Chris Minns has called for an end to racist attacks against Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic who happen to have Chinese heritage.
The call for action comes after Mr Minns organised an online meeting with leading members of the Chinese community to discuss their concerns about the racist attacks.
Held on Anzac Day eve, the online meeting included representatives of Chinese Australian Services Society (CASS), Asian Women at Work, and the Georges River Association.
Mr Minns said every participant in the meeting had either experienced a racist attack themselves in the last few weeks, or knew someone who had.
"Regardless of people's genuine concerns about the actions of the Chinese Government, there is no excuse for abusing or threatening another Australian," Mr Minns said.
"Sensible people in St George need to call this out. It is crazy to blame a person of Chinese heritage who lives here, pays taxes here, votes here, is a citizen here and sends their children to school here for a disease that started over there," he said.
"There have been examples of small business people verbally abused in their shops, name calling on the street and threats against people just going about their business.
"The Chinese community in St George are among the most diligent and complying groups in Australia when it comes to following social distancing rules.
"Racial vilification is against the law, and anyone experience it or seeing it should contact the Police andAnti- Discrimination NSW," Mr Minns said.
Last week, 16 prominent Australians of Chinese heritage have written an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling for national unity in the face of rising anti-Chinese sentiment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chinese Australian Forum has started an anti-racism petition on change.org under the heading 'Australians choose #UnityOverFear during COVID-19' which has gathered more than 20,000 signatures.
President of the 300-member strong Australian Chinese Medical Practitioners Society, Dr Zhen Zhang has also written to the PM and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian expressing the society's strong support for the open letter raising concerns about the escalation of racial abuse and vilification towards Asian Australians.
Dr Zhang, who is the superintendent at the Wesley Private Hospital at Kogarah, told The Leader that he had personally not experienced racial discrimnation as a clinician but had heard of other professionals of Asian background who had.
"These racial incidents and opinions really divert our society from the fight against the virus," Dr Zhang said.
"It is not good for our nation's health and particularly for our clinicians who have experienced racial discrimation it could potentially deter them from offering full-heartedly services to their patients."
