Tsebin Tchen was a Chinese-Australian Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1999 to 2005, as Senator of Victoria.
21 Facts About Tsebin Tchen
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Tsebin Tchen's father was then a junior diplomat with the Chinese Government and was posted overseas when Tchen was two years old.
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Tsebin Tchen's father continued as diplomat to represent the Republic of China government until 1975 when he retired to live with Tchen in Australia.
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From 1966, Tsebin Tchen worked as a New South Wales government town planner in Sydney.
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At the 1993 election, Tsebin Tchen was preselected on the Liberal Senate ticket for Victoria, in the unwinnable fourth position.
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Tsebin Tchen made another run for pre-selection in 1998, at the height of the Pauline Hanson controversy, and was successful.
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Tsebin Tchen only succeeded by gaining the support of the then-Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett who, as well as ringing delegates personally, appointed eight state Members of Parliament as voting delegates to the preselection convention which was enough to secure Tsebin Tchen's victory.
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In spite of his rather turbulent introduction, Tsebin Tchen performed unobtrusively in parliament.
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Tsebin Tchen served on a large number of committees but on the floor of the senate, he was rarely heard.
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Tsebin Tchen remained a strong advocate of multiculturalism emphasising the need to seek common purposes rather than identifying differences and of demanding acceptance rather than just tolerance.
11.
In December 2003, Tsebin Tchen stood for preselection for a second term in the Senate.
12.
Unlike Synon who chose to contest the election from fourth spot on the Party ticket in 1998, Tsebin Tchen declined the offer of the fourth spot and did not stand at the 2004 election.
13.
Tsebin Tchen retired from the Senate when his term expired on 30 June 2005.
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Tsebin Tchen was the third Chinese-Australian elected to federal parliament, following Irina Dunn and Bill O'Chee.
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Tsebin Tchen was the second Asian migrant elected to the federal parliament of Australia.
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Tsebin Tchen has worked with several notable Australian historians including Judith Brett and John Fitzgerald.
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Tsebin Tchen was an adjunct professor with Swinburne University of Technology at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy at the Faculty of Business and Law.
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In 2015, Tsebin Tchen was appointed a Commissioner of the Victorian Multicultural Commission by the Labor State Government.
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In 2018, Tsebin Tchen was appointed to the Australian Multicultural Council, a ministerially appointed body representing a broad cross-section of Australian interests that provides independent and robust advice to Government on multicultural affairs, social cohesion and integration policy and programs.
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Tsebin Tchen continued his voluntary community involvement, and demonstrated extensive links with community organisations, acting as an advisor to a number of Chinese community associations.
21.
Tsebin Tchen died in a car crash in South Australia on 25 November 2019.