Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a great honour to be speaking on this report on the delegation that visited Greece and Turkey back in September and October last year. For someone like myself, who has a Greek background and also represents a seat with a very large Greek-Australian population, it was an absolute honour to be there, to have discussions with ministers and officials and to see firsthand some of the challenges under the economic crisis that Greece is facing.

Could I first of all say a big thankyou to the people who looked after us while we were there: Ann Palmer, from our secretariat in the Senate, who ensured that we were at the correct place at the right time; and the wonderful staff at the Athens embassy, including Sophia McIntyre, Mr Andrea Biggi and of course—someone who is a stalwart at the embassy—Leonie Kowalenko, who has set up many meetings for me over the years with ministers, deputy prime ministers, speakers et cetera. I pay tribute to her, because she's a wonderful Foreign Affairs staffer who does amazing things in Athens.

The delegation, as we heard from the member for McEwen, looked at border management and border protection. We met with Frontex in Athens, who told us about the way they're dealing with the massive influx of refugees, not just from Syria but from all over the world. When they tell you that there are over 500,000 refugees living in Athens alone you can see the enormity of the problem they have and the assistance they require from Europe and other parts of the world to help with the issue. We spoke about the economy of Greece and how there's approximately 23 per cent unemployment—the official figure is 23, but it's more likely to be around 40 per cent.

We visited Crete, and it was a very special moment to visit the place where the Battle of Crete took place. Many Australians participated in the battles there during World War II. As the member for McEwen said, we visited the memorial at Stavromenos, and they raised with us the upkeep of that particular memorial. We've written to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs to ensure that we can get some sort of support to keep this very special place clean and tidy and to ensure that it is a special place for Australians when they visit Greece.

We also had meetings with the deputy foreign affairs minister, Mr Terence Quick. Mr Speaker, you would remember that we welcomed him here, in this place, in the Greek language, together with the member for Chisholm. It was great to see Mr Terence Quick again and have discussions with him. One of the things we spoke about with Mr Terence Quick was the finalising of the working holiday visa with Australia. Only the other day he telephoned me to tell me there was one more tiny thing to be done, one thing to be signed, for that to become reality. We discussed Greek-Australia relationships, with the massive Greek Australian community that we have here, the wonderful experiences people have and the ties between our two nations.

Mr Speaker, it was a very informative visit where we saw all the aspects of the people-to-people ties, the economic challenges that Greece is going through and, of course, our historical ties through World War I and World War II. We also visited Gallipoli and, as the member for McEwen said, it was very moving to be on that peninsula and still to find things on the ground that were left by our troops back in World War I. We laid wreaths at different memorials. We visited Hagia Sophia, one of the major Christian churches in the world and one of the first, built by Constantine the Great. It was very moving for me. Unfortunately, I had to leave—I had a family issue that popped up in the middle of the delegation's trip—and didn't make it to Ankara, but it was a good delegation. We ensured that we made the ties between those two nations and Australia stronger through the discussions we had and ensured that there is continuing thought given to trade and to the people-to-people contact we have with both of those nations. Both of them are very good allies of Australia through our ties with NATO in Europe and through the historical ties that exist in Greece because of World War I, World War II and the history of the mass migration of people to Australia. I'm looking forward to seeing some of these things come to fruition, especially the working holiday visa and the upkeep of the memorials we spoke about, because they are significant for Australia and for Greece. Many, many people have an interest in this area.