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

Tonight I'd like to speak about an important event that I was proud to co-host together with the member for Nicholls last night. We celebrated the launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Albania group. The co-chair, the member for Nicholls, has a very significant number of Australian Albanians in his community, in and around Shepparton, and it is the same with me in the western suburbs. This important celebration was held to highlight the strong relationship between Australia and Albania, recognising the rich cultural heritage found in communities across Australia.

Members may be aware that Australia established diplomatic relations with Albania in 1985. We enjoy longstanding people-to-people links, with an Albanian presence in Australia dating right back to the late 19th century. The first Albanians, in fact, were recorded in the 1850s in Queensland. Then there was the second wave after World War I in the very early twenties, then there was a wave again after World War II, and then there was a small wave after 1991 once communism collapsed in Albania.

The first recorded Albanian to settle in Australia was Naum Konxha, who arrived in Brisbane in 1885 with his English wife and decided to stay permanently. However, the first significant Albanian migration to Australia, as I said, started in the 1920s after the United States of America placed migration quotas and restrictions on southern Europeans. Many who arrived in the 1920s settled in rural areas or areas where there were market gardens. In my electorate in the western suburbs, there were lots of market gardens, and many of them settled around there. The next wave was after World War II. Many were escaping communism for a better life, and many ended up in Australia. Of course, they went on to establish businesses, they worked in all sorts of industries and they established themselves and their families. I'm very proud to have a large Albanian community in the western suburbs of my electorate. In the 2021 census, 20,686 Australians declared an Albanian ancestry, and besides those 20,000-odd there would be another at least 10,000 to 15,000 who, for whatever reason, didn't declare their background but are children of the many Albanians who have settled here in Australia.

The Albanian embassy in Australia is headed by His Excellency Mr Adrian Mara, the Albanian Ambassador to Australia. His Excellency has been a very active ambassador, and last night's event was a testament to his hard work and the tremendous efforts and celebration of our Albanian Australian community. We were graced by the attendance of the Prime Minister and a large number of ministers and members of parliament, and it was tremendous to have that presence there. I know that His Excellency Ambassador Mara and everyone present were delighted to meet the Prime Minister, whose surname, which is originally Italian, translates to 'Albanian', in reference to the Arbereshe people, or Italo-Albanians of southern Italy, or someone of Albanian origin. So they were delighted to meet the Prime Minister last night.

There were many others in attendance, including: Her Excellency Jetmira Berdynaj Shala, the ambassador of Kosovo; my good friend Judge Rauf Soulio from the District Court of South Australia; Mr Reg Qemal of the Shepparton Albanian Society; Mayor Shane Sali of Greater Shepparton; Mayor Jim Memeti from the City of Greater Dandenong; Mr Chesk Jakay and Agron Zenuni from the Albanian Australian Association of South Australia—and our South Australian Albanian community is particularly proud that the Adelaide Eagles, a soccer club based in the Adelaide electorate in Renown Park, won the Albanian Cup this year; and Ms Karen Resul from Stanley's Cafe, who was the wonderful chef who did an amazing job feeding so many people last night.

I look forward to this being the first of many Parliamentary Friends of Albania functions, and I congratulate His Excellency the ambassador, Adrian Mara, for his great efforts and work and for his initiative in arranging this inaugural event. I'm sure that, if you did not attend last night, the next one will happen next year—if we're all here—so please come along and enjoy some Albanian culture.