Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The year 2017 marks 25 years of diplomatic relations between the Ukraine and Australia. Last night, I was delighted to relaunch the Ukraine-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Julie Bishop, and deputy chair, Senator Catryna Bilyk. We welcomed to Parliament House the Ambassador of Ukraine in Australia, His Excellency Mykola Kulinich; the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations chair, Stefan Romaniw; Sir Angus Houston, the former Chief of the Defence Force; the former permanent representative of Australia to the United Nations and former President of the UN Security Council, Gary Quinlan; and many members of the Ukrainian community, including Andrij,Chrestyna and Taras from Blue Bay cheese, in Mornington, in my electorate in Dunkley, successful examples of Ukrainian-Australian migrants. The Ukrainian delegation formally recognised Minister Bishop as a friend of Ukraine, and Australia as a firm ally on the international stage. The minister's leadership was recognised, as was that of Sir Houston, in establishing an embassy in Kiev following the MH17 tragedy.

It was also an honour to host amongst our guests members of the Ukrainian armed forces. I was proud to emphasise with my parliamentary colleagues the close relationship that our two countries have, as well as our shared commitment to Ukrainian economic growth, territorial integrity, sovereignty and cultural exchange.