been unsuccessful, his opposition to Hanson caused him to break Party rules which mandated the election of delegates. Kennett's preference for Tchen over Synon sparked a major factional dispute within the party, with the Federal Treasurer Peter Costello and Michael Kroger, a former Party President – both sworn Synon supporters – failing to fend off Tchen's challenge. After the Senate Group Voting ticket issued for the Democratic Labour Party saw it preference the ALP over Tchen, the ALP's third candidate won the fifth Senate spot. In an ironic twist, Tchen was elected on One Nation preferences over the Australian Greens for the final sixth spot and became the first Asian-born migrant to win a seat in either house of the federal parliament. In spite of his rather turbulent introduction, Tchen performed unobtrusively in parliament. He served on a large number of committees but on the floor of the senate, he was rarely heard. He remained a strong advocate of multiculturalism emphasising the need to seek common purposes rather than identifying differences and of demanding acceptance rather than just tolerance. Despite being chair of the government members' policy committee on immigration and multicultural affairs between 2000 and 2004, a position elected by Liberal parliamentarians, Tchen did not significantly influence policy as Australia grappled with the vexing issue of how to deal with asylum seekers and boat people. In December 2003, Tchen stood for preselection for a second term in the Senate. Despite the claimed support of Prime Minister John Howard, Tchen suffered the same fate as his predecessor and clearly lost to former lower house MP Michael Ronaldson. Unlike Synon who chose to contest the election from fourth spot on the Party ticket in 1998, Tchen declined the offer of the fourth spot and did not stand at the 2004 election. He retired from the Senate when his term expired on 30 June 2005. Tchen was the second Chinese-Australian elected to federal parliament, following Bill O'Chee. He was the first the first Asian migrant elected to the federal parliament of Australia. After politics In his retirement, Tchen again took up his interest in Australian history, especially Chinese Australian History which he believes should be treated as an integral part of Australian History, rather than as a matter of niche interest. He has worked with several notable Australian historians including Judith Brett and John Fitzgerald. He was an adjunct professor with Swinburne