Hieu Van Le, AC (Vietnamese: Lê Văn Hiếu; born 1 January 1954) was the 35th governor of South Australia, in office from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2021. He served as the state's lieutenant-governor from 2007 to 2014. He also served as chair of the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission (SAMEAC) from 2006 to 2009. Le is the first person of Asian heritage to be appointed a state governor in Australia,[1] and first person of Vietnamese background to be appointed to a vice-regal position anywhere in the world.[2]
Early life
Le was born in Quảng Trị, Southern Vietnam, on 1 January 1954. His father was a Viet Minh soldier who fought for Vietnamese independence from French colonists and was killed in action whilst his mother Hanh was still pregnant with him. He had 2 older brothers and was educated in Đà Nẵng, and later attended Dalat University where he was a student representative leader, studying economics. In early 1977, whilst just finished studying his degree, both his brothers who were ARVN soldiers were sent to reeducation camps by the new communist regime. Job prospects were also low due to stigma in hiring relatives of ‘traitors’ and he felt there was no longer a future for him to remain. [3]
He decided to flee Vietnam in search of a better life, with his newly wedded wife Lan and 50 other people. They embarked on a small fishing boat and headed off with Le as their nominated navigator, whose only equipment was a hand drawn map of Vietnam and Southeast Asia. They made it to the Malaysian Coast after traveling West and 10 days at sea, but were repeatedly rejected entry 6 times and were drove out by the Coastguard. The group decided to try their luck and head to Singapore but a warship told them to leave. The boat in decay eventually gave out and started to sink, with the fuel and water running out. [4]
Le later recalled “I said ‘Look if we go on like this we will all die soon. Our last action is to abandon the boat and swim because it will soon be a trap for all of us’. With the last fuel we steered the boat and got into shallow water 50-60 meters from the shore and the coastguard came out again and I gave the order to jump.” The Malaysian Coastguard preparing to fire warning shots, made everyone frantically swim. Luckily shallow water ensured all survived, and the defeated coastguard surrounded the landed refugees with barbed wire where they stood. They were eventually allowed settlement at an Island refugee camp 2 weeks later.[5]
After several months in the camp Le met a man who owned a small boat who expressed his desire to sail to Australia with Le as his navigator. Adamant at first, after learning further navigational skills from a former Naval personnel on the Island, he later agreed and they collected spare parts and materials from all the abandoned boats along the coast, later going on a second voyage with 42 people and more supplies in November. After nearly a month the boat first ran into Melville Island (Northern Territory) and from there Darwin, Northern Territory as a refugee. Upon embarking on shore knowing he is a illegal migrant, Le was prepared to be greeted by a gun boat to drive them back to sea but found themselves met by several Australians who were fishing and drinking beer, and shouted at him 'G'day mate. Welcome to Australia' as they passed on. Le and his wife Lan got temporary permits to stay and relocated to Adelaide where they stayed at the Pennington Migrant Hostel for a period to learn how to transition to Australian life, where he worked menial jobs like fruit picking.[6][7] His two sons were born in Australia and are named after Australian cricketers Sir Donald Bradman and Kim Hughes.[8]
Le's appointment as Governor of South Australia to replace Kevin Scarce was announced on 26 June 2014; he took office on 1 September, with Scarce's term expiring on 7 August.[8][11] Le is a Catholic and credits his experiences as a refugee for strengthening his religious convictions.[12] In June 2019, Premier Steven Marshall announced that Le's original term as governor had been extended by two years, to 31 August 2021. During this time, Le has served as patron for over 230 organizations.[13][14]
