Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today, along with my co-chair, the member for Adelaide, the Parliamentary Friends of Albania will be officially launched. It may surprise people that migration from Albania started in 1885, with the first major phase in the 1920s. In Shepparton, they had up to 500 Albanian migrants by the late 1930s, attracted by the employment opportunities in the orchards of the region. They worked hard and were successful, so much so that newspapers a world away in Sydney published articles suggesting a quarter of Shepparton's inhabitants were 'aliens' and that the town was becoming a second Albania. But on the ground was a story of cohesion. Albanian performers joined concerts, and the CWA welcomed Albanian women.

Following World War II, many sought citizenship, and, with the onset of communist rule, a second wave left Albania for Australia. In the 1950s, Shepparton Albanians established their own Albanian Moslem Society and began fundraising. In 1960, an Albanian mosque opened in Shepparton, and it is a welcoming place for all of us in the community.

The community continues to thrive and add to the prosperity of the region—people like cafe owner Karen Resul, orchardist and transport company owner the late Sam Sali, businessman Reg Qemel, Mayor Shane Sali and property developer Safet Kutrolli. People of Albanian descent are making huge contributions to our nation, and tonight we celebrate them and our growing friendship with this burgeoning European country. Thank you.