Media Release

Outspoken anti-drugs campaigner and Fairfield’s only Vietnamese speaking Councillor, Thang Ngo has been awarded a 2002 Churchill Fellowships, it was announced today.

The Fellowship is awarded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust which was established with the goal of "rewarding Australians striving for excellence".

The Fellowships are worth on average, $20,000 each and provides Australians the opportunity to investigate a project overseas with the view to applying those learnings for the benefit of the Australian community.

Australia-wide, only 101 Fellowships were awarded for 2002.

As a Churchill Fellow, Thang Ngo will study methods to improve communication and relationship between police and the diverse ethnic communities they serve. The Fellowship will take Mr Ngo to the UK, France, USA, Singapore and Vietnam in 2002.

Fairfield in NSW, is Australia’s most multicultural local government area, where more residents were born overseas than those born in Australia.

Fairfield includes Cabramatta, a suburb that has worked hard to shake off its drug and crime problems.

"A key strategy in the fight against drugs is open communication and a close relationship between police and the local multicultural community," said Thang Ngo.

"And that’s why this Churchill Fellowship is invaluable, not just to me, but the entire Cabramatta community and Australia as whole.

"I accept this Fellowship on behalf of the Cabramatta/Fairfield community and thank the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for also recognising and rewarding Australians from diverse cultural backgrounds in their striving for excellence" Mr Ngo concluded.