Australia’s most successful migrant and Aboriginal business minds have been honoured in the nation’s pre-eminent awards for diversity in business, at the 25th Annual Ethnic Business Awards held in the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberra, Tuesday night.
Over 320 distinguished guests, from former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott, to ambassadors, and representatives of diplomatic missions of over 20 countries, members of both Houses of the Federal governments, Senate and lower house, along with many business and media luminaries from all over Australia.
The winners in the Champion of Champions included a Chinese migrant who established an empire based on the most common of necessities, tissue paper, a self-made supermarket tycoon, and an Aboriginal Australian who created a major mining business from scratch that now employs many Aboriginal Australians.
They were selected from a group of nominees made up of past finalists and winners of Ethnic Business Awards over the last quarter of a century – as part of the Ethnic Business Awards 25th anniversary celebrations.
“Our nation’s diversity – from the first Australians to more recent waves of migrants – has changed our business landscape forever, and brought countless opportunities to this great land and its people,” said Awards founder and Chairman, Mr Joseph Assaf.
“In celebrating 25 years of the Ethnic Business Awards, we celebrate thousands of stories of Australians from diverse backgrounds who have demonstrated our treasured national values of innovation, hard work and enterprise in achieving their dreams.”
Winners were judged by an expert panel made up of leading Australian business and community identities including Carla Zampatti, Don Argus, Allan Gyngell and Eve Crestani.
For the 25th year of the Ethnic Business Awards, three categories were made up of the winners and finalists of the past 24 years, including the All Finalists Category, All Winners Category and Indigenous in Business Category.
Neos Kosmos is a proud media sponsor of the Annual Ethnic Business Awards.