Ethiopian Community

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:42): This chamber has heard many stories about the violence and brutal actions of military dictatorship in various parts of the world in recent times. I rise today to speak in support of Ethiopia and its community in Australia in this critical time. As we all know, Ethiopia had been devastated by decades of natural disasters, political unrest, war, drought and famine.

While Ethiopian-born people in Australia share a common country of birth, they are a diverse group of people. There are many differences including ethnicity, language and religion within the Ethiopian-born community. The earliest Ethiopian migrants arrived in Australia during the 1960s for the purposes of attaining higher education. During the 1970s when the Derg socialist government assumed power in Ethiopia, over 30,000 people were imprisoned or killed. This resulted in approximately half a million refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries.

The majority of Ethiopians arrived in Australia after 1991, with Victoria becoming home to the largest population. For the past 27 years in Ethiopia, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) ruled until it was ousted from government by Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali, who was elected in a democratic election on 2 April 2018.

Dr Abiy Ahmed has maintained strong support from Ethiopians living locally and abroad for the reforms he is trying to implement to improve the country's living standards. However, the TPLF is trying to overthrow the democratically elected Ahmed's government through force by killing and terrorising civilians based on their identity and creating human misery for millions of Ethiopians. After a year of terrorising, it has left thousands dead and forced more than two million people from their homes, pushing parts of the country into famine.

Ethiopia is on the brink of civil war again, and most foreigners have left the country. The Ethiopian community is appealing to all levels of Australian governments to stand with the democratically elected government of Ethiopia and support democracy. International intervention and protection is essential. Unless the world unites to address the uprising of military dictatorship that we are witnessing it is likely to only get worse.

The Ethiopian people need action, very strong action so that the current rising dictatorship can be exposed and stopped. Australia must do what it can. With our voices and increasing pressure from around the world a sense of hope can prevail in Ethiopia. For our South Australia Ethiopian community, it must be hard to think that people in their homeland are on the verge of living through similar atrocities that we have witnessed in Afghanistan and Myanmar.

Ethiopians all over the world, with support from all African nations, are coming together to show global unity in defence of the Ethiopian elected government. I thank the people of the South Australian Ethiopian community for standing up for the people in their homeland. I want to encourage them to keep fighting for peace and democracy. Australia is now home for a vibrant and grateful Ethiopian community. Australians have experienced the benefits of Ethiopian culture and its people, food, dance and music add to the vibrancy of our multicultural society.

This Saturday, 4 December 2021 at 11.30am, on the steps of Parliament House in South Australia, the Ethiopian community and other African nations will come together for peaceful protests to spread awareness about Ethiopia's current war. This is Adelaide's opportunity to stand up for Ethiopians and their right to have political conflicts resolved peacefully and without violence, which the TPLF has refused to do. The Labor Party stands with our Ethiopian community in their fight for human rights and a peaceful Ethiopia.