Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

  (a) the first major international humanitarian effort of the Commonwealth of Australia following Federation was to mount relief efforts for orphans and other survivors of the Armenian Genocide;

  (b) Australia’s relief efforts were supported by Armenian relief committees established across the nation;

  (c) the Australian Government made available the government steamer Hobsons Bay, to support those humanitarian relief efforts; and

  (d) an Australasian Armenian relief committee was established by Reverend James Cresswell in 1922 to coordinate Australian relief efforts;

(2) recognises:

  (a) the extraordinary humanitarian efforts of the then newly formed Commonwealth of Australia for the orphans and other survivors of the Armenian Genocide, as well as the other Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire including Greeks and Assyrians, as one of Australia’s first major international humanitarian campaigns, which set a proud tradition of international humanitarian efforts by Australia;

  (b) the tireless efforts of all of those Australian individuals and organisations involved in this historic humanitarian effort mobilising a broad spectrum of political, civic and religious leaders, including James Cresswell, Edith Glanville, Jessie Webb, Stanley Savage, Isobel Hutton and Cecilia John, as documented in the University of NSW Press publication Armenia Australia & The Great War authored by Professor Peter Stanley and Vicken Babkenian; and

  (c) the special bond between Australia and Armenia forged by the humanitarian efforts of the newly formed Australian nation to support the Armenian people during one of the darkest chapters of modern human history; and

(3) calls on the Australian Government to ensure that this important part of Australia’s history and the role of individual Australians supporting the victims of the Armenian genocide is properly commemorated.

On the eve of Anzac Day, our own day of national commemoration, millions of people around the world, including in Australia, come together for a different purpose. They pause to remember those who perished in what was one of the great crimes of the modern era—the Armenian genocide. While very different, Anzac Day and the Armenian genocide are forever linked. Both are associated with events that commenced a day apart. As our ANZAC troops finalised preparations for the landings that would take place in the darkened hours of 25 April 1915, the intellectual, political and religious leadership of the Armenian community was being arrested in Constantinople. The two events were separated by around 300 kilometres, little more than the distance from Sydney to Canberra. On that night, 230 Armenians were arrested; just eight were ever to be seen again. It was the first act of a genocide which, over the course of the next eight years, would see up to 1.5 million Armenians murdered or die as a result of death marches, sickness or starvation.

The linkages between the events of Gallipoli and the Armenian genocide run deeper than simply time and geography. Australian troops, particularly POWs held in Turkey, were to bear witness to many of the atrocities of the genocide. Many of the dead were interred in houses and churches that had been home to Armenian communities. Their experience was typified in the words of Lieutenant Leslie Luscombe, from Geelong, who was captured at Gallipoli. He wrote of what he witnessed at a railway junction in Turkey:

On the platform a considerable number of Armenian women and children were huddled together … Turkish soldiers armed with whips were driving the women and children into the sheep trucks. It was evidently intended to transport them to some distant concentration camp … All the Armenian men that could be rounded up were liquidated.

Australians, so far away but more aware than ever of this part of the world because of their own losses, rallied to support the victims of this genocide. This motion recognises those efforts, which, collectively, represented the first major international humanitarian effort of our still relatively new nation. In so doing, they started a tradition that has typified our role in the international community. Be it through the work of individuals, non-government organisations, our religious institutions or the federal government itself, Australia has proved time and again its generosity of spirit in helping those far from our shores who are in desperate need.

The horrors of what was befalling the Armenian people motivated Australians from all walks of life—from the churches to our councils and parliaments, and, equally importantly, among our citizenry. Those relief efforts began in Victoria, with the establishment of the Armenian Relief Fund in 1915. By 1922, Armenian relief committees had been established in every state and territory, and an inspiring South Australian, the Reverend James Cresswell, was to become the national leader of Australia's contribution. Through those relief funds, the equivalent of some $1.5 million in today's terms was donated to help Armenian orphans and survivors—an incredible contribution from a nation that was emerging from its own losses during the Great War. In addition to financial relief, Australians donated urgently required food and other goods, and many travelled to the region to work in orphanages that became homes to tens of thousands of children who had lost their parents in the genocide.

The efforts of those Australians who extended a helping hand and friendship across the globe should be recognised by this parliament, as they represent an important part of the early narrative of our own nation. We should be proud of their contribution and ensure that they are appropriate commemorated. In so doing, we will also be sending a powerful reminder that Australians will always stand against those who seek to commit acts of genocide or ethnic cleansing. In remembering the victim of the Armenian genocide and the Australians who came to their aid we send a message that the events which started in 1915 are not just some footnote in history. If we hide from the truth, if we fail to recognise the evil that was perpetrated against the Armenians, we simply provide succour to those today and in the future who think that they can deny the most important of human rights—life itself.

At the most human level, we owe that recognition to those who today continue to bear the scars of the Armenian genocide—people like the Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian; or my predecessor in North Sydney, Joe Hockey; or our colleague the member for Goldstein, whose own families were devastated by the Armenian genocide. We owe it to the thousands of Armenian Australians across our country who want the truth of the genocide to be known. That is surely not too much to ask.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion is seconded?

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. One of the things Australia is renowned for is the generosity of its people, yet too often in this 21st century we hear people in our communities lament our level of investment in foreign aid. Foreign aid brings Australia respect and influence around the world. It helps keep the world stable in geostrategic terms. It creates and grows export markets for Australia. But, most of all, it is the right thing for a wealthy country like Australia to do. But our generosity comes not just through government. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Australians make their own donations to needy people elsewhere, typically in developing, failing and war-torn nation states. As the terms of the member for North Sydney's motion indicate, this is not a new phenomenon.

It is a historical fact that, during the early hours of 25 April 2015, Armenian political, religious, educational and intellectual leaders in what is now Istanbul were arrested, deported to the interior and put to death. Many more were forced off their ancestral homelands, facing abuse, starvation and eventually—again—death. The work and efforts of those Australians who responded to the plight of the Armenian people in the years following 25 April 1915 were extraordinary. The work of those involved in the Armenian Relief Fund of Australia set an example which many have followed in the subsequent decades, and the establishment of the Australasian Orphanage must have had the collateral benefit of bolstering the reputation of the young Australian nation; it certainly forged enduring relationships between our two peoples.

For Australians living in the first quarter of the 20th century, the historical homelands of the Armenians and other Christian minorities could hardly have been further away, yet widespread media coverage of their suffering at the hands of the Ottoman Turks was a call to arms for many here in Australia. The New York Times reported almost daily on the mass murder of the Armenian people, describing the process as systematic as well as authorised and organised by the government. Theodore Roosevelt would characterise the events as 'the greatest crime of the war'. At least 1½ million Armenians lost their lives in that period. But, as is so often the case, despite the distance which separated them and the victims, the response of Australians seemed beyond what you'd expect from a distant, small and young nation-state. Of course, the bond between our two peoples had been forged out of the military presence in the region of the Anzacs. Many Anzacs witnessed and recorded the shocking treatment of the Armenian people. I've had the honour of laying a wreath at what is known as the Armenian Genocide Museum in Yerevan, Armenia's modern-day capital. Like my visit to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel, it was a deeply emotional experience.

Of course, there are sensitivities about the use of the word genocide, and I understand that. But surely we spend too much time arguing about a descriptor, a word, and too little time providing closure for so many Armenians, Assyrians and other minorities. Whatever the words used, the fact is that between 1915 and 1923, hundreds of thousands lost their lives at the hands of the Ottoman Turks for no other reason than their religion or ethnicity. Up to 30 countries around the world, and our own New South Wales parliament, have now declared the actions of the Ottomans an act of genocide. I do not believe the ongoing failure of Australia to do the same helps rebuild trust and relationships. Indeed, it may further inflame tensions. We invest so much in the strength of our international relationships, and yet I believe one further act could further strengthen our place in the world. The failure to have a debate certainly does not send the right messages. Remember, it was Hitler who, ahead of his invasion of Poland in 1939, said, 'Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?'

Australia has built much strength and earned great respect internationally and domestically as a result of our willingness to recognise and take collective responsibility for our treatment of our Indigenous peoples in the years following European settlement. Others around the world can learn from our experience, our actions and, of course, our courage.

John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to second this motion and thank my friend, colleague and neighbour the member for North Sydney for bringing forward this critical debate. Let me say from the outset, it is clear and unequivocal that the murder of Armenian nationals by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 constituted genocide. This motion brings pride to students of Australian history—the pride of knowing that our forebears saw a people suffering on the other side of the world, then joined hands that together stretched across 14,000 kilometres of sea and terrain that separated Australia and western Armenia to help those who miraculously survived the Armenian genocide.

As the member for Bennelong, I represent an electorate with more Australians of Armenian origin than any other member of parliament. They are almost all survivors of the Armenian genocide. All of them lost family members. All of them lost their homes. All of them want justice. All of them are proud that Australia, the place where they were forced to make their home but loved without exception, did its bit and more to help their suffering ancestors. I've long called for this parliament to recognise the Armenian genocide. I'm happy that today, by debating this motion, we are taking a significant step towards achieving that goal by recognising Australia's first major humanitarian relief effort—and what an effort it was!

By late 1922, survivors of the Armenian genocide, who'd fled from Ottoman persecution, were scattered across the Middle East and Europe and were heavily dependent on foreign aid. Reverend James Cresswell, a congressional minister from Adelaide, also assisted the Armenian relief fund and was unanimously appointed as the national secretary of the Australasian Armenian relief fund. Reverend Cresswell assisted with the establishment of the Australasian orphanage in Antelias, Lebanon, in November 1922, which housed the surviving orphans of the Armenian genocide. Over 17,000 orphans, who'd lost their mothers and fathers, were housed at the Australasian orphanage, some of whom later had the privilege and opportunity to call Australia home.

The director of the orphanage was Captain James Knudsen, an ANZAC war veteran. He was assisted by Hilda King, secretary of the Australian Student Christian Movement, and, later, Melbourne nurse, Miss R Gordon, who both greatly assisted relief efforts and devoted most of their energy to the advancement of the institution. The orphanage was part of a global network of over 200 orphanages, which fed and housed over 130,000 orphans.

I would like to also recognise the Republic of Turkey that grew from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. It is not the same nation that committed those atrocities, but a nation with which Western countries now enjoy strong diplomatic relations and healthy trade, commerce and tourism. In fact, my partner's daughter today is holidaying in Turkey.

We've seen repeatedly, through international history, that the first step down this long road is the acknowledgment of past wrongs. This step helps not only to honour the dead but also to ensure that the passage of time is not used to deny or distort historical truth. Joined by my colleagues today, and by Joe Hockey before us in this place, many political leaders around the world have rightly called the atrocities that took place between 1915 and 1923 against the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek peoples by its correct term—genocide. These include Pope Francis, President Ronald Reagan, Stephen Harper, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and many more. Today I join them in calling for Australia to recognise the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocide. I am patiently waiting for the day that Australia not only recognises our efforts to aid refugees and orphans of the Armenian genocide but also joins with 30 other countries calling for Turkey to recognise the events of 1915 as genocide.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is right and proper that this parliament recognises the events of this great humanitarian crisis inflicted upon the Armenian people and others at this time—and I congratulate the member for North Sydney and the member for Hunter for ensuring that we do so. Of course, it's particularly important to recognise the humanitarian efforts of Australians, which were, perhaps, the beginnings of those links of friendship and comradeship between the Australian people and Armenian and Assyrian people and all those affected by those terrible, terrible events.

Australian soldiers had a chance during World War I to interact with the Armenian people in particular. Many Australian soldiers who were taken prisoner were billeted in the former homes of Armenians—that is, Armenians had been expelled from their homes, and their homes had been ransacked, pillaged and, in many senses, almost destroyed, and Australians were put up in them. One Australian solider, Thomas Walter White, described the scene he witnessed. He said:

A number of Armenian women and children of all ages sat outside the church on bundles of clothing. They looked very sad and miserable, and little wonder, for their menfolk had been killed, their houses and furniture confiscated and now they were being turned into the street from their last possible sanctuary.

Of course, those Australian solders were particularly keen to be generous in providing any support they could when they saw what was happening to the Armenian, Assyrian and Pontic Greek people.

There are many great people named in the motion. In particular, I want to mention Stanley Savige—I've met his descendants at commemorations, and they are very proud of Sir Stanley—an Australian Army soldier who served in the First World War and the Second World War. In 1918, Lieutenant General Savige served in the campaign in which he was instrumental in protecting thousands of Assyrian refugees in particular. Following the capture of Urmia, Savige discovered tens of thousands of fleeing Assyrian refugees. He deployed a small group of volunteers from his own force, along with the refugees, to form a rearguard to hold back the Persians and Kurds in this great conflagration.

I know other members will have covered the matter of the Armenians, but I want to make particular reference to the suffering of Assyrians at this time. The Assyrian people, the native Christians of Iraq, Syria and Iran, obviously feel these events very closely today. It is considered that 750,000 people died, with hundreds of villages burned and churches destroyed. The Assyrians have a word for these events, 'Seyfo'. I've been to the Seyfo commemorations on many occasions. The Seyfo covers not only these terrible events but also the 1933 massacre of Assyrians at Simele by Iraqi government forces, in which 3,000 Assyrians were killed. Seyfo means a lot to the Assyrian people because it was one of the starkest examples of generations of suffering the Assyrian people have encountered.

The week before last I visited Iraq. I had lunch with His Holiness the Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East in Erbil. I met with many other leaders, including the Chaldean patriarch in Baghdad. I will report to the House separately on my visit to Iraq. It was important for me to see the state of minorities in Iraq as we speak, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Yazidis and others. Our work is not yet done. As we focus on tomorrow and on the oppressed people of Iraq and providing refuge to so many thousands—as we have done and should continue to do—we should also recognise the importance of historical events, which this motion does.

The average Australian in 1918 would not have heard of Armenians or Assyrians or Pontic Greeks. The average Assyrian or Armenian probably would not have been able to tell you where Australia was. Yet these bonds of friendship were created at that time. I think that, in some ways, it's why we provided such refuge—particularly to Assyrians but also to Armenians and all people affected—so many years later, in the 1980s and 1990s. Even today, my electorate office deals regularly, on a daily basis, with assisting more refugees being settled in Australia. I welcome them myself sometimes at morning teas after their arrival from the terrible devastation of Syria or Mosul in Iraq.

There are few greater pleasures I have as a member of parliament than holding those morning teas, welcoming those refuges. I do so in recognition of the longstanding support that Australia has given to the people affected by these terrible events: the gut reaction, the on-the-ground immediate reaction of the Australian soldiers, which was followed up by charity efforts afterwards at home. I commend the motion to the House. (Time expired)

Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently this House commemorated the charge of the light horse brigade at Beersheba, representing 100 years since the wells at Beersheba were taken, opening the way for the end of the third Gaza battle and for the light horse to assist General Allenby to take Jerusalem on 11 December 1917. It put to flight the 500-year rule of the Ottoman Empire in the Holy Land, the Holy Land I note that many Armenian monks had settled in from early in the fifth century, and now occupy the Armenian quarter of the ancient city—although, it's only about 14 per cent. Those are streets I have wandered dozens of time, and I have eaten far too much fine Armenian food in that magnificent city. The Australian light horse would fight through the Jordan Valley, finishing at the battle of Samakh on 25 September 1918. Damascus would fall on 1 October and, of course, the Ottoman Empire would fall on its sword on the ship HMS Agamemnon on 30 October 1918. The fight against the Ottomans would continue by the Turkish independence movement and by so many others until the last sultan left in November 1922.

Our history in the region has been vast. What so many don't realise is that, amongst the fight and all of that history, for so long a people bore the brunt of aggression from the Ottomans. Those people were the Armenians. On 25 April 1915 Australian soldiers valiantly went ashore at Gallipoli. Unbeknownst to us, the day before, 200 to 300 Armenians were rounded up—it was the beginning of what many have called the genocide of the Armenian people. It was not the only time; tragically, the first time was in 1896.

Around 50,000 Australians of Armenian descent from 43 different nations now live in Australia, which is pretty exciting. The first Armenians came here during the gold rush, as did so many other people seeking fortunes and new lives. Large numbers came after the 1896 tragic events, many others following 1915 and 1922. The majority came in the sixties and seventies from the Middle East after Nasser came to power in Egypt, and many more came after the occupation of Cyprus and the civil unrest in Lebanon, Syria and, of course, the horrific situation in Iran. The last wave came in the 1980s, following the devastating earthquake in Armenia in 1998, and in the early 1990s, following the collapse of the USSR.

Armenian Australians bring a fantastic social culture. They bring a contribution. They bring great success in law, banking, finance and sport. They bring great political representations such as a former New South Wales Treasurer and now New South Wales Premier, and Mr Wilson, the member for Goldstein, with whom I've spoken this morning. Mr Wilson is apparently one-quarter Armenian, as he said in his maiden speech. Our culture is enriched by those who have come.

The tragedy, though, is that so many Armenians have come because of the bloodshed enacted against them—not just in 1896 but through 1915 to 1922. We acknowledge in this Chamber on 25 April 1915 that a bunch of colonies became a country when 50 per cent of Australia's able-bodied men from 18 to 45 signed up to fight. And, whilst Australia formed its sense of modern identity on the battlefields starting with Gallipoli, Armenia formed its sense of great and secondary tragedy from the events that followed. These things should not be hidden. They should be discussed. They should be open. Reconciliation comes from an honest appraisal of events and an honest appraisal of history.

I thank the member for his motion this morning that seeks to bring an honest appraisal of events that happened 100 years ago. Time should never extinguish events, but it should give us time to reflect, to heal and to seek to move on. I am exceptionally proud of what our Armenian communities have done in Australia. It is hard moving from a land you love—a land replete with history and wonder, and a land that goes back not just centuries but millennia—to come to a new country: a young country with modern standards and an ancient country in terms of those who came first. As we seek to understand—not to hide from but to seek reconciliation from the past—I reach out and welcome our Armenian communities to a modern Australia, to know that this now, for those who live here, is your home. You are extraordinarily welcome, and we look forward to working together as we build stronger, safer and more inclusive communities.

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by thanking the member for North Sydney for bringing this important motion and to also welcome everybody here in the chamber today who's come to listen to this motion. Many of the speakers before me have spoken quite frankly and openly about the issues that happened 100 years ago. I would like to take this opportunity to recognise this as just one example of Australia's humanitarian efforts during wartime. Australians are known for our warmth and generosity, and there are many stories of our humanitarian efforts.

The humanitarian effort with the Armenians, though, was Australia's first as a Commonwealth nation. Wherever they went in the Middle East, Australian forces encountered Armenians. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that a community of several thousand lived in Egypt, mostly in Cairo, and that the Anzacs, who were stationed at the Mena Camp in Cairo, met these Armenians as they patronised their businesses. I've been to Mena House several times in Cairo, and each time I'm regaled with stories of the Australian history and presence there.

Here's a little known story: in December 1914, Henry Miller Lanser, a motor mechanic from Sydney, visited a recording studio in Cairo owned by an Armenian Setrak Mechian, and he recorded a Christmas message to his family back in Australia. It is the only known recorded letter by made by an Australian soldier during the First World War and perhaps the only one in existence.

In late 1915, 5,000 Armenians were rescued from the Mediterranean coast by a French cruiser. They were taken to Egypt to Port Said using three Australian transport ships. The Egyptian government established a camp for the Armenian refugees. There are many, many more stories of encounters between Australians and Armenians during the war. The Australian-Armenian humanitarian the effort culminated in the establishment in Lebanon of the Australian-run orphanage in late 1922. The Australian-run orphanage housed around 1,700 Armenian orphans. The Australasian Armenian Relief Fund was formed during that year, and its secretary, the Reverend James Cresswell, toured the Armenian refugee camps and orphanages in the following year, documenting some of the heartbreaking images of suffering among the Armenians he saw there.

Australia responded, with then PM Billy Hughes allowing for free transport of relief supplies for Armenian refugees on the new Commonwealth line of steamers right up until 1929. After the war Armenian migrants to Australia increased, particularly in the 1960s. The largest single group came from Egypt in 1962 and 1963 as a result of the nationalist movement in Egypt by Gamal Abdel Nasser, which saw the expulsion of Greeks, Armenians, Italians and Maltese, predominantly out of the port city of Alexandria, which, incidentally, is where I was born.

Australia has had a long relationship with Armenia and with its people, as we have had with many other nations. The relationship with Armenia, though, is characterised by a humanitarian bond exhibited through a range of humanitarian efforts by Australians and a relationship forged by respect for human life.

Australians should indeed be proud of our history. We should be proud of our history of humanitarianism—something that we might want to reflect on from time to time, because this history is part of the forging of our nation's character and our Australian values. The humanitarian efforts by Australians towards Armenians should be recognised as an important part of our history. It serves to remind us all that even in war there is heroism, compassion and a shared humanity. Once again I thank the member for North Sydney for bringing forth this motion. I believe it is a very important motion for the Armenian people in Australia, and I hope that this motion starts a long road to reconciliation that is much needed for the people of Armenia.

Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.