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Australia part of Asia, minister says on visit to Malaysian birthplace

Multimedia 13:00 30 Jun, 2022

Wong visited Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah state, where she lived for eight years as a child before migrating to Australia, as part of an official visit to Malaysia

Australia part of Asia, minister says on visit to Malaysian birthplace

Visiting the Malaysian city where she was born, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her story showed that Australia was part of Asia, as new data showed more than half of Australians were born overseas or had an immigrant parent, Qazet.az reports.

"One in two Australians are either born overseas or have parents who were born overseas so this is a very Australian experience," she told media on her first visit to Malaysia since a Labor government won office last month.

"It matters that Australia speaks to South East Asia in a way that recognises that we are part of this region and our futures are shared," she said.

Results of a census conducted every five years and released on Tuesday showed for the first time more than half of the Australian population (51.5%) were born overseas or had a migrant parent.