Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor will ask the Australian Embassy in Athens to make representations to the Greek government in an effort to speed up the signing of the Working Holiday visa agreement.
Steve Georganas MP, the federal member for Hindmarsh, told Neos Kosmos this week there was “a lack of clarity” about why Greece was holding out on completing the deal.
Mr Georganas, who met Greece’s Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos in December, said that at the time the Greek minister stated that Greece was ready to sign-off on the deal immediately.
“He apologised for the delay,” said Mr Georganas . “Now we have real concerns as to why it’s being held up.”
Georganas, who spoke to Brendan O’Connor on Wednesday, said the Immigration minister told him he would be making a request to the Australian Embassy in Athens to investigate why the Greek government had not put pen to paper.
“All the work’s been done, we want it expedited as soon as possible,” said the member for Hindmarsh.
“We’ve done everything needed from the Australian side.
“We have the Australian minister yesterday saying, ‘I’ve got the pen here ready and waiting to sign it’. What is the delay, that’s the question we’re all asking.”
Australia’s Ambassador to Greece Jenny Bloomfield reiterated that the Australian government was committed to establishing the deal.
“It is Australia’s experience that establishing these mutually agreeable arrangements can take some time,” she said.
Ms Bloomfield added that the arrangement would strengthen cultural, tourism and youth exchanges by allowing young people from Australia and Greece to have an extended holiday with work rights in each other’s country.