Episode 2

The first political assassination in the history of Australia leaves the Vietnamese
people of Cabramatta demonised and vilified – the community and the ideals of
multiculturalism itself are in tatters.

9.30pm Monday, September 4th, 1994, police are called to a house at 15 Woods
Avenue, Cabramatta following reports of gunshots. They discover the body of John
Newman, the state MP for Cabramatta, lying in the driveway of his home. He has been
shot dead. The Vietnamese already vilified for propping up a criminal culture are now
deemed guilty of committing Australia's first political assassination.

Newman’s killing plays into a wider concern that is brewing in Australia, particularly in
conservative politics, that Asians are a threat to the social cohesion of a nation.
The police hit back with highly orchestrated campaigns to rid Cabramatta’s streets of
drugs and crime. There is limited success.

The only real hope is that the community, so vilified and fractured, will somehow find its
own way to overcome its problems.

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