Thanks to Ron Boswell

IN 2001, the Vietnamese community unanimously decided to support Ron Boswell in his bid for re-election.

IN 2001, the Vietnamese community in Queensland unanimously decided to support Ron Boswell in his bid for re-election to the Senate. It was the first and only time that the community by-passed its non-partisan policy to support a parliamentary candidate because of his stand against Pauline Hanson.

In June this year, Boswell spoke in parliament about the human rights situation in Vietnam. With Labor's Mark Furner, he sponsored a petition in the Vietnamese community raising concerns about the human rights dialogues between the Australian and Vietnamese governments.

Our community will lose a strong representative voice in parliament in 2014. However, our friendship with Ron Boswell will last forever. I will always cherish his "He's not pretty but he's pretty effective" T-shirt that he gave me during the 2001 campaign.

We thank him and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

Viet Tran, Riverhills, Qld