Senior Liberal Federal MP Michael Sukkar has called on the Victorian government to support a parliamentary motion to recognise the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
In his letter, Mr Sukkar encouraged all Victorian Parliamentarians “to take a principled and courageous stance and to stand with our Australian Greek, Armenian, Assyrian and Maronite Lebanese communities by recognising this genocide.”
A genocide recognition motion was expected to be moved in the Legislative Assembly by Victorian Greens Senator, Samantha Ratnam, last month. It was formally withdrawn on Thursday, October 24 after it failed to receive the support of parliament, including Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and her Labor government.
Serious momentum has since been building for the motion, with more than 35 letters from Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish, Cypriot, Tamil, Tigray, Lebanese, Indian Hindu, Christian and Islamic community leaders being addressed to the Victorian Premier and Members of Parliament supporting it.