Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've had the opportunity to meet with members of the Greek Seniors Friendship Group at Concorde Library. The group meet monthly and have been catching up regularly for decades now. They grab a cup of coffee, eat some Greek sweets and generally chat about world affairs. I had a particularly good chat with Stefanos, who, at the age of 80, is still riding through the electorate. He talked to me about his favourite cycleways, and they were hilly and long. Frankly, I was blown away by his fitness.

What I enjoyed most about spending time with this group was hearing about their wisdom and grace. They encapsulate what is so great about this country. This is a diaspora that came here after the Second World War and helped to build our great country into what it is today. They also paved the way for other migrant communities to come here because they showed Australia that having people here from other countries makes this country better. They showed that we are enriched by those cultures and traditions, and they made it easier for successive waves of migrants to come to this country, including my family. In my eyes, they helped to build the great multicultural success story that we are today. So, from my family to your family, may I say thank you to the Greek Seniors Friendship Group.