Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in solidarity with Australia's much-loved Iranian community and for those in Iran who are living with fear, repression and uncertainty. I want to start by expressing my very deep and sincere gratitude to our Iranian community, particularly in Melbourne, who are so frequently willing to sit down with me and talk to me about what their community is going through. It is an enormously difficult time. The war in Iran is hurting all Australians, but for Iranian Australians this is deeply personal. For many, the past few weeks have been the most brutal swing from initial feelings of hope and perhaps even optimism to fear and then to real terror for the people that they love.

Many Iranian Australians have not been able to contact their family at home in Iran for some weeks—not knowing if they're safe, not knowing what's happening and living with a silence that is not just distressing but utterly unbearable. I have spoken to mothers who are unable to contact their Iranian children—children who are doing the bravest possible thing, which is standing up to a murderous and brutal regime. They cannot speak to their children to know and understand if they're safe. To the Iranian community here in Australia: we see you; we hear you, and your voice matters to us. The community asks that we as a parliament stay focused on the safety, the dignity and the freedom of the Iranian people, who have withstood decades of repression and now war. That's what I'll continue to advocate for.

Today I want to take a moment to recognise an outstanding member of our community who was honoured as part of the Australia Day honours earlier this year, and that is George Haitidis, who is the unit controller of Monash SES. It was a very exciting moment for our community. He was awarded the Emergency Services Medal, which is one of the highest honours available to SES volunteers. George has now dedicated two decades of service to protecting my local community. He joined the Monash unit in 2005, went on to become section leader three years later and then was appointed unit controller, a role that he has now served in for 18 years.

That dedication was never more evident than the work that was done by George's team in February 2024, when my local council of Monash experienced the worst storm damage that we've seen in its history. During that time, SES volunteers responded to more than 1,200 requests for assistance. Monash is a safer place and our country is a safer country because of wonderful people like George. I want to sincerely thank him and every member of his unit for their tireless commitment to our community.

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