Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan has been criticised by members of the local Greek community over her decision to oppose a proposed parliamentary motion aimed at recognising the Greek, Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
The motion was expected to be moved in the Legislative Assembly by Victorian Greens Senator, Samantha Ratnam, next week.
The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) and the Federation of Pontian Associations of Australia sent letters on Wednesday, October 23 asking the Premier to support the motion to bring Victoria in line with other Australian states in acknowledging the Genocide of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek people.
But the motion was formally withdrawn on Thursday, October 24 after it failed to receive the support of parliament, including Premier Allan and her Labor government.
At the time, a government spokesperson said that “we know a lot of people feel very strongly about this issue,” but “this is not an appropriate time for this motion.”
“The war in the Middle East has hurt social cohesion in this country and led to so much division. Right now we need to focus on uniting communities, not creating more division,” the spokesperson added.
Premier Allan’s opposing stance, and subsequent withdrawal of the motion, has since drawn the ire of Greek Australians, who traditionally show Labor strong support at the ballot box.
“So the suffering of women and children creates “division”?” prominent lawyer and author Konstantinos Kalymnios wrote on The Greek Herald‘s social media post reporting the Premier’s stance.
Another Greek community leader Constantine Spiropoulos wrote, “By acknowledging past histories one does not create division but reconciliation. The last time I heard we were a multicultural society.”
A number of Greek-dominated Victorian ALP branches are now preparing to pass resolutions in support of the genocide motion.
