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William Ah Ket (1876–1936), lawyer and campaigner for Chinese rights, was born in Wangaratta, Victoria. His father, Ah Ket, and mother, Hing Ung, had established one of the first tobacco farms on the King River. William Ah Ket was educated at Wangaratta High School and was also taught at home by a Chinese tutor. As a teenager, his proficiency in both English and Chinese enabled him to act as a court interpreter. He had a distinguished legal career specialising in civil law, and for three decades was the only Chinese barrister and solicitor in Melbourne. In 1912 he married Gertrude Victoria Bullock.
William Ah Ket established a committee to oppose the proposed Immigration Restriction Act and he was also active in the Anti-Opium League
of Victoria which attempted to bring about social reform among Chinese in Australia and abroad. A Paper on the Chinese and the Factories Acts, published in 1906, defended the rights of Chinese workers and factory owners against unfair legislation. The Melbourne Chinese Chamber of Commerce asked him to represent Australian Chinese at the opening of the first Chinese Parliament in Beijing in December, 1912 and he was Acting Consul for China in 1913–1914 and 1917.
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