PARLIAMENTARY FRIENDS OF THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (16:31): I rise this afternoon to talk about an exciting event that happened in the Torrens Room at lunchtime today when, for the first time, a group of people from both the upper and lower houses of the South Australian parliament formed the South Australian Parliamentary Friends of the Hellenic Republic. This is a group of concerned South Australian parliamentarians who wish to encourage the development of friendly relations between the two great nations that I have mentioned before and the peoples of those countries.

We aim to enhance interactions between the South Australian and Greek communities through discussions, and also through the governments of the two bodies, and the broader communities in Australia and Greece. We also aim to provide hosting and good delegation hosting between the two nations, and we want to discuss cultural linkages and opportunities between the State of South Australia and the nation of Greece.

The friendship group is a multipartisan project, with the Greens' Hon. Tammy Franks MLC attending. Martin Hamilton-Smith and I were elected as co-conveners. Minister Tom Koutsantonis, the member for West Torrens, was elected as group secretary. I look forward to working with those three people to further the project over the coming months.

As we discussed today, we are looking towards the Parthenon marbles, and aged-care facilities for people of Greek heritage in South Australia and the issues that they currently face. We also discussed broader cultural connections between the two nations and establishing relationships with other parliamentary friendship groups with the Hellenic Republic throughout Australia, including the federal parliament group.

In closing, I thank the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker for facilitating the establishment of this group today and the some 20 members of parliament who made the time to attend the lunchtime gathering and who support this important multicultural initiative.