He was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from May 1996 until November 2006, representing Melbourne West Province.
[1] He studied at Lasan Duc-Minh High School in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) from 1970–1974,[1] but fled Vietnam in 1977 as a refugee with the fall of the city to the Communists and the end of the Vietnam War, spending 10 months in Laem Sing refugee camp in Chanthaburi, Thailand.
[1] In 1993, Nguyen took up a position as a staffer working for then federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Gareth Evans.
[1] He worked with the Minister for three years before winning pre-selection to contest the safe Labor Legislative Council seat of Melbourne West Province at the 1996 election.
[citation needed] In March 2006, Martin Pakula, who had unsuccessfully tried to unseat former federal Labor leader Simon Crean in a preselection challenge earlier in the month, was selected instead of Nguyen, despite Nguyen being keen to recontest the seat.