CALL TO PROTEST TO RESTORE SAFETY AND REVIVE RICHMOND 27/4/24
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
RE: CALL TO PROTEST TO RESTORE SAFETY AND REVIVE RICHMOND 27/4/2024
Dear Community Leaders and Members
The Executive Committee would like to announce that at 11 am on Sunday April 27, 2025,
Richmond residents will take to the Victoria street to march demanding the government restore safety to the Richmond area.
Richmond was one of the first areas where Vietnamese settled in Australia. Victoria Street, with its Ben Thanh Market, once thrived and was likened to Little Saigon, bustling from early morning to late night.
Regrettably, the government established an injection room on Lennox Street. Since then, Richmond has been overwhelmed with drug addicts, and residents’ lives are constantly threatened. Victoria Street has become a “dead” zone, with customers too scared to visit, forcing many businesses to close.
February 2025, “the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC)”, a government agency relocated elsewhere, citing Richmond’s lack of safety for its staff.
It is outrageous and unjust that the government has treated residents like second-class citizens. Despite all complaints, it continues to maintain the injection room, leaving residents to bear the consequences.
With the support of Mayor Stephen Jolly, City of Yarra and councillors, residents have decided to march at 11 am on Sunday April 27, 2025. The march will start at North Richmond train station and end at the injection room at the corner of Butler and Lennox Streets.
The Executive Committee of VCA-VIC calls on members, families and friends to join the protest to express the demand that the government must restore safety and revive Richmond, with its Ben Thanh Market, once likened to the beloved Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam.
Best regards,
For the Executive Committee,
Duy Quang Nguyen
President of VCA-VIC
