Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to put on record my thanks for a historic visit last week by the Prime Minister of Greece. The visit by Mr Karamanlis was the first ever from a Prime Minister of Greece. It demonstrates the unquestionably strong ties between our two countries. It was not only the Prime Minister of Greece who came but also the foreign minister and one of the senior members of the government, who is affectionately known by everyone as ‘Dora’. The Prime Minister of Greece not only graced Canberra; he also had the foresight to visit my electorate of Chisholm, where the heart of the Greek community lives in downtown Oakleigh. There were scenes in Eaton Mall which were more akin to the visit of a rock star. There were crushes, there were throngs, there were hugs and there were kisses. It was a fantastic sight all round. It demonstrates the strong ties between our two countries and also the strong ties that many Greeks over numerous generations have kept with their country of birth.

The Prime Minister of Greece also visited St Anagiri, the Greek Orthodox school across the road in the Treasurer’s electorate. The community has established and run the school to keep alive not only their Greek culture but also their language, their religion and their traditions. They do not—as so many reports have said—stay out of society but, by keeping their traditions alive, they have amalgamated them beautifully into my electorate of Chisholm, and we are all the richer for it. When you go down to Oakleigh you cannot help but enjoy a fantastic Greek meal, great Greek coffee and just the vibrancy of the area. The Greek community have made a contribution not only through their culture but also through their business enterprise, and we need to recognise that. The area of Oakleigh has actually gone through the roof because of the trials and tribulations of the Greek community in that area. They have run their businesses well, they have supported their families well, they have educated the next generation of professionals—doctors and all the rest of it. They came here for a better life not for themselves but for their children, and this was on show with great pride last week when the Prime Minister of Greece visited.

I also want to say that, after two long decades of many negotiations, we saw the historic signing of the social security agreement. This is a great pact. Sadly, we do not know a lot of details. Although we welcome it, and the Greek community welcomes it, we want to see the details. We want to be sure that, after two decades of waiting for this social security agreement, the Greeks in the community are not left worse off but that this agreement actually signals a betterment for the Greeks in our community. So, while we are very thankful and we welcome the historic signing of this agreement—which has taken a long time to get there—we want to ensure that it is actually for the betterment of the Greek community. Greeks are hard negotiators, they haggle hard, and they work hard, so obviously it took a long while to get there. But we want to ensure that this agreement is actually in the best interests of the Greek community.

It was a fantastic day down in Eaton Mall and at St Anagiri’s, where the Greek community was definitely on show and full of pride. I want to thank the organisers. There was a bit of concern about security in the crush, but I think everybody has a fantastic day.