The Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales has issued a strongly worded statement responding to comments made by Senator Pauline Hanson during her recent address to the National Press Club, defending the contribution of migrants to Australian society and warning against reducing complex national challenges to “scapegoats” and simplistic narratives.
Full message in English:
The Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales notes with concern a number of comments made by Senator Pauline Hanson during her recent address to the National Press Club regarding migration and the role of migrants in Australian society.
Australia has long been shaped by successive generations of migrants who have come to this country seeking opportunity, security, and a better future for their families. Their experiences, contributions, and sacrifices are not a footnote, they are a part of our national story.
Our own history in this country is a migrant history. We understand, from lived experience across generations, what it takes to leave behind family, home, and everything familiar, and to build a life in a country that owes you nothing. It takes courage. It takes resilience. It takes determination.
But the story is not ours alone. It is the story of every community that has made the same journey: different ships, different decades, different languages, the same courage. We say this mindful that, beyond the First Peoples of this continent, who have cared for this land for tens of thousands of years, every one of us arrived from somewhere else. This is not a Greek story. It is the story of the nation we all built, together, on country that was never ceded.
The Greek Australian experience demonstrates the positive impact that migrants can have when given the opportunity to contribute fully to their adopted homeland. Across generations, Greek Australians have made significant contributions to the nation’s economic, cultural, educational, and civic life, while embracing the values and responsibilities of Australian citizenship.
Public discussion about migration levels, infrastructure, housing, and social cohesion is both legitimate and necessary in a healthy democracy. But these are policy questions and they deserve policy answers, not scapegoats. Migrants have built and continue to build this nation’s prosperity, diversity and social fabric. Any debate that ignores this is an incomplete one.
Migration deserves to be discussed with nuance, balance, and respect for the human lives behind the statistics. Reducing complex national challenges to a single cause isn’t analysis, it’s a shortcut. And shortcuts like this risk erasing the contribution of communities that have worked hard to become an integral part of Australian society.
Australia’s success as one of the world’s most harmonious and successful multicultural nations didn’t happen by accident: it has been built on mutual respect, shared opportunity, and a willingness to welcome those seeking to contribute to the common good. These principles remain as important today as they have ever been.
The Greek Orthodox Community of New South Wales remains committed to fostering understanding, inclusion, and constructive dialogue, and to celebrating the contributions of every Australian who has helped shape our nation, regardless of their country of origin.
“The migrant experience is one of courage, sacrifice, and contribution. Australia’s story cannot be told without acknowledging the generations of migrants who helped build the nation we know today.”
