Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge the vision, hope, bravery and hard work of our migrants. On 18 December, we will celebrate International Migrants Day, and it would be hard to find a better place in Australia to celebrate International Migrants Day than my electorate of Reid. Reid is one of the most multicultural seats in the country. Throughout human history, migration has been a courageous expression of an individual's will to overcome adversity and to live a better life. That's the story of my grandparents, who immigrated to Australia from Greece all those years ago.

Migration has driven our nation's economic success. Immigrants have played an important role in small business, generating entrepreneurial business activity and contributing to greater workforce diversity, which has had a positive effect on our economy. In 2020 there were over 7.6 million migrants living in Australia—people born in India, Korea, China, Lebanon, Italy, Greece and Nepal. Reid is only a slice of multicultural Australia but a multicultural success story in its own right. On the occasion of International Migrants Day, I want to acknowledge them. (Time expired)