Racially derogatory graffiti targeting two Asian-operated restaurants, a healing centre, and a Hindu temple across Boronia has been condemned as hateful and cowardly.
Red spray-painted slurs with the words ‘go home’ defaced the shopfront windows of Kingsland Chinese Restaurant and Shree Swaminarayan Temple.
Police confirmed it is believed these incidents are connected to similar graffiti being plastered on a healing centre on Mountain Highway and a second restaurant on Boronia Road on 21 July.
A spokesperson said an investigation was underway but “there is absolutely no place at all in our society for hate-based and racist behaviour”.
Kingsland Chinese Restaurant owner Graham Tran spoke with ABC Radio Melbourne host Justin Smith on Thursday 24 July and said his “heart dropped” as he saw the words.
“What made it worse was my son asking ‘what’s this?’ The hardest part was trying to explain to my son exactly what’s going on,” he said.
Mr Tran said he arrived like normal to his restaurant with his six-year-old son in tow to discover the hateful words written across the shopfront.
“I told him it’s just dirty graffiti because I don’t want to break his innocence, I don’t want to expose him to how silly some people can be,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
As a migrant family, establishing themselves in Boronia in the 1970s, Mr Tran said, for the most part, racism has been minimal, aside from a comment here or there, but that the Boronia community has been welcoming.
“(Our customers) are nothing but pleasant. Because we’ve been there so long, a lot of them we see more like family-friends than customers most of the time.”
Visiting the Temple on Thursday 24 July, alongside multicultural affairs minister Ingrid Stitt, Bayswater MP Jackson Taylor said he wanted to make it clear that he, the State Government and the community stand with every member of the multicultural and multifaith community.
“It should go without saying – but it’s important that I make this very clear: Hate has zero place in our community,” he said.
“And the disgraceful actions we’ve seen, taken by individuals who simply do not get what our community is about, aren’t just criminal – they are cowardly. My message to them is simple: Your hate has no home here. This is not who we are.”
In a letter to Shree Swaminarayan Temple, and posted by the Victorian Council of Churches in a release on Wednesday 23 July, Premier Jacinta Allan stood in strong solidarity with the community.
“What happened this week was hateful, racist and deeply disturbing. It wasn’t just vandalism – it was a deliberate act of hate, designed to intimidate, isolate and spread fear,” she wrote.
“It was an attack on your right to feel safe and to belong, and on the values that bind us together. There’s no place for it anywhere in Victoria. And it must be called out for what it is.”
Mr Tran said the incident had been made easier to deal with because of the support of the community in the days following the attack.
Mr Taylor’s sentiments echoed this, saying that the support of the community is behind those directly targeted.
“Everybody, no matter their background, has the right to practice their faith and be a part of our community without looking over their shoulder in fear. You are, rightly, proud of who you are. Of your contribution to our community. Of what you bring that makes Knox the best place to live in,” he said.
“We are always at our very best when we embrace every member of our community – because multiculturalism isn’t just a phrase. It’s something we live.”
Anyone with information that could assist police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au
