Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to note a wonderful event that I attended yesterday in Melbourne, and that event was the celebration of the Greek National Day. I had the very great fortune to represent the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, at that event because, as we know, he flew out for important meetings with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea on Thursday after parliament rose. The event, which was based at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, was attended by thousands of men and women and hundreds and hundreds of children beautifully clad in their national costume.

It was terrific to be part of this event. A number of people were there representing the broader community. Denis Napthine, the Premier of Victoria—who is a strong supporter of the multicultural community and the many strengths it has brought to the state of Victoria—gave the main address. Matthew Guy, the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, was also there. He is well known for his tremendous support for the multicultural community. Many of my federal and state parliamentary colleagues also attended, along with many from the Greek community. Undersecretary Mr Gerontopoulos—or, as we would say, the deputy minister for foreign affairs—flew out from Greece to attend the event as a direct representation from the Greek government. The ambassador for Greece, Mr Dafaranos, along with the general secretary of the organising committee, Mr Kostas Nikolopoulos, were also in attendance. I commend Mr Nikolopoulos for putting together such a spectacular day.

Tomorrow, 25 March, is a day of special religious significance for the country of Greece but it is also the day that Greeks celebrate their independence, which they fought for with the loss of the lives of many men and women. It is a day that recognises the hard-fought-for independence achieved by Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1832—also known as the Greek revolution or Greek uprising. It is a day when those in the broader Greek community pay their respects to the men and women who lost their lives fighting in pursuit of freedom and democracy—values that we hold very close to our hearts here and ones that we share with them today.

There was a wonderful procession of different Greek groups who marched up to the steps of the shrine—and the procession itself was so long that it took nearly an hour for them all to make their way up to the shrine. What was so lovely about that was the number of young people who were involved in that procession. Why that was so special to me was this: it is so important that, whatever your heritage, your parents make sure that you understand where you come from and what your heritage is, why it is so important to you and the way in which it shapes your life and the way in which you choose to lead your life. There were so many of these young people, ranging in age from childcare age up to young adults. They were very much part of the whole day's proceedings, and they demonstrated, through the very joyful way in which they partook in the activities, their love for and joy in all things Greek and their very important place within the Greek community.

It is really interesting to note that, in Victoria alone, in 1871 there were 19 Greek-born women and 127 Greek-born men. Today—and, as we were receiving the procession yesterday, I was standing back and thinking about this—more than 50,000 Victorians were born in Greece. That just goes to show you the magnitude and importance of the Greek community in Victoria and the enormous economic, social and cultural strength that they have brought to our state and, indeed, to Australia—not to mention, being a bit of a foodie myself, the marvellous food that they have brought to our country and the culinary expertise that they have shared with us and which we all continue to enjoy today. There are actually more than 100,000 Greek-born people living in Australia—of whom, as I mentioned, half live in Victoria—and more than 379,000 Australians who claim Greek ancestry. The Greek community in Australia is more than 600,000 in total, of whom just under half—43 per cent—live in Victoria. Needless to say, Melbourne has the largest Greek-speaking population outside of Europe. It is the third most populous Greek city after Athens and Thessaloniki.

I was really privileged to be part of this extraordinary day. It was a very joyous day. It was also sombre, in acknowledging and respecting the reasons for which we were there—to acknowledge those who had fallen in the pursuit of independence in Greece. But it was a wonderful day, and I thank the organisers for putting together such a great event.

In particular, I would like to acknowledge the trustees of the shrine, who facilitated and enabled the opportunity to hold it there. The head of the trustees is Colonel John Wertheimer—and Minister Ronaldson is in front of me, so he will probably be able to correct me if I have pronounced the colonel's surname wrong. Colonel Wertheimer and the trustees provided a wonderful opportunity for what is, I think, the only group that holds their national day on the steps of the shrine, and I commend them for that.

Senate adjourned at 22:27