Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are few speeches I will give in this House that will mean as much to me as this one. I rise to speak on a motion moved by the member for North Sydney in the Federation Chamber. As Adolf Hitler was considering committing the Holocaust, many in his country and around the globe warned him that it would be a legacy that Germany would never be forgiven for. He said, infamously, that it would not matter—for who, after all, remembers the Armenians? Well, we must, this House must, and our nation must. For there to be justice, first there must be truth.

Australia's first major humanitarian effort can be traced back to 25 April 1915, when Australian soldiers responded to calls from persecuted survivors of the Armenian genocide. For there to be justice, first there must be truth. With that, it is regrettable that Australia has not recognised important parts of our own history, which happened to cross over with the Armenian genocide. We haven't been able to do justice to the memory of our diggers, who witnessed and journaled what was being committed against the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians. We haven't been able to honour the many instances of heroism when members of our Anzac forces saved Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians struggling through persecution and terrain during this tragedy. We haven't been able to formally recognise the myriad stories from across the nation which detail Australians giving so generously to a people in need.

In June this year, my colleague the member for Goldstein called on us all to speak of the tragedy's name: genocide. I join in this call. This taboo needs to end. This is why I am speaking today to add my voice in support of the motion of 25 June. It was a significant step in the right direction. My electorate is home to a large number of Armenian Australians. As recently as last month I visited Galstaun College and met with students at the Armenian school. The vast majority of these great contributors Australian society are descendent of survivors of the Armenian genocide. As proud Australians from Armenian background, they want nothing more than this country, our country—all of it.

Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh were on the verge of suffering another tragedy in the 1980s and early 1990s. This time, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh defended their homeland and exercised their right to self-determination by voting for independence for the Republic of Artsakh. I joined the Armenians of Mackellar in congratulating the Republic of Artsakh, which was declared independent 27 years ago. All sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should follow the processes set by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to achieve peace in the region with the non-use of force, territorial integrity and people's right to self-determination. Thank you to the Armenian National Committee of Australia and their youth advocates, who came to see me today here in the chamber and are here in the chamber tonight.

I want to refocus on the motion I stand to support, which recognises Australia's first major international humanitarian relief effort. When those who came before us helped the Armenians in need, the reason they knew to help them was in part due to the accounts by various Anzacs who reported what they had witnessed. Sir Thomas White was a pilot in the Australian Flying Corps. He was captured by a Turkish soldier on 13 November 1915 while on a mission to cut telegraph wires near Baghdad. He observed:

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.

I salute the member for North Sydney's motion debated in the Federation Chamber on 25 June. I look forward to the day that Australia's formal position reflects that will. As Diana and Sarine told me this afternoon, at school as proud Australians they celebrated Gallipoli, but, as Australians with Armenian background, it felt strange that we ignored our nation's effort in Armenia in that same campaign. If one of us feels excluded, are not all of us excluded? Are we whole as a nation of people?