Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In September and October last year I travelled to Greece and Turkey alongside my parliamentary colleagues the member for Hindmarsh, Mr Steve Georganas, and Senator Barry O'Sullivan, the great latte-sipper from Queensland—I know Barry will be shaking his head when he hears me say that; he's not a latte man, but we got him to have one, just for a bit of fun—with our wonderful secretariat, Ms Ann Palmer. It is a pleasure to speak about the tabling of this report on our parliamentary delegation. We met with various Greek government officials and stakeholders to discuss trade, economic opportunities, our historic relations and issues surrounding border management. Our discussions gave us the opportunity to reiterate the strength and warmth of the relationship between Greece and Australia. The recovery of the Greek economy and the future economic opportunities were central points of the discussions throughout the visit. It was a pleasure to tour Creta Farms, a leading producer of olive oil, meat and deli products. Creta Farms has a strong alliance with Primo Smallgoods, which locally produces Creta Farms's unique olive-oil based products on our Aussie shores. These kind of partnerships are vital in the rebuilding of the Greek economy, and I hope we can see more opportunities for cooperation.

A particular highlight for me, coming from an electorate with such a rich military history, was our focus on the military engagements which underpin our relations with both Greece and Turkey. It was an honour to visit many memorials commemorating the role played and sacrifices made by Australian soldiers defending Greece and Crete during World War II. We paid our respects at the Souda Bay Allied War Cemetery and memorial and at Phaleron War Cemetery in Athens, where 250 fallen Australian soldiers are buried, as well as the Athens Memorial, where 329 Australians are buried. To commemorate the role of Australian soldiers during the Battle of Crete in 1941, we visited the Stavromenos Memorial, where we met George Pouloudakis. George's father, Mark, was instrumental in establishing the memorial.

We were incredibly humbled to lay wreaths at the Hellenic-Australian Memorial Park in Rethymno an the memorial of the Battle of 42nd Street in Crete, an Anzac memorial near Chania. The issue we've had is that the 42nd Street memorial is famous because Red Saunders, the first Australian Indigenous person to be commissioned officer, led a battalion there. Unfortunately, so far this year we've had to write to three different veterans affairs ministers to try to get this memorial upgraded and treated properly. It's a beautiful memorial, but it needs whoever does the mowing at the other cemeteries nearby—they're only a couple of miles away—or someone to come down, clean the gardens and keep it neat and tidy. It is a very important part of Australian history.

Of course, our time in Turkey was also defined by the deep military history we share. There aren't words to describe the feeling you get when you walk on Anzac Cove at the Gallipoli memorial. It is something that I know touched me very deeply. I had an opportunity to visit the wall at Lone Pine and see Keith Mitchell from Whittlesea, a relative who passed away, killed on the Anzac Day landings, and to appreciate just how great the Turkish people have been with the memorials at Anzac, what it means to Australians and the respect they showed us and they showed our soldiers in that time.

We had fruitful discussions with the chair of the Turkish parliamentary friendship group, who noted the priority in establishing direct flight between Turkey and Australia for Turkish Airlines. There is movement in this respect, and we look forward to seeing an expansion of stopovers in Asia and the introduction of a nonstop flight route.

Recently Turkey began importing Angus cattle to use as breeding stock. We went through issues that they are having with keeping that stock going. Senator O'Sullivan, being a good cattle producer, was able to talk through a whole range of things to help them. Our officials have got in touch with each other, so we're building support for the Turkish cattle industry as well.

We looked at the influx of refugees throughout Turkey, what they've had to face and how they've been able to handle it. We're talking three million refugees heading to Turkey, and the way they've been able to work very closely with the refugee community, bring them in and help them get work and support was something that we should look more and more closely at as we deal with this global crisis.

It was an important visit for the trade relations. It was an important visit for our cultural relations and a great opportunity, as I said, to go to Anzac Cove but also to see just how important trade is to Australia and Australia's future.

I present the report to the House.

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