The Australia-Greece Federal Parliamentary Friendship Group met at Parliament House last week to receive a briefing on the political and economic situation in Greece.

The cross-party group came together at the invitation of MPs Steve Georganas and Maria Vamvakinou, to hear the latest update from Australia’s Ambassador to Greece, Ms Jenny Bloomfield.

16 parliamentarians attended, including former Liberal Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock, Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister of State – Bronwyn Bishop and economics adviser to Bob Brown – John Hawkins.

Maria Vamvakinou told Neos Kosmos that the briefing enabled MPs to clarify the issues affecting Greece and Australia’s bilateral relations.

“It was a good turn out and a very good discussion. The point of the group is to allow for discussion and that can lead to representation to government. It’s a forum that allows for that interaction,” said Ms Vamvakinou, who added that Ambassador Bloomfield’s briefing identified the challenges facing Greece, in terms of restructuring its economy, issues of governance, and how Australia, through its bilateral relationship, could potentially assist Greece in the future.

“We don’t have huge trade with Greece, but we have a large community here that supports Greece on a number of issues, and wants to encourage Australian government support across a range of issues – including migration.

“The questions the Ambassador’s brief raised were: how does Greece rebuild and what are the areas they can grasp and use as a basis for economic prosperity,” said Ms Vamvakinou.

During Ms Bloomfield’s presentation, Ms Vamvakinou said the Ambassador reported on the challenges facing Greece as it pushes forward with restructuring its economy and creating new growth in key industries such as tourism. Ms Bloomfield also spoke about migration between Greece and Australia, and the steps taken recently by the Australian Government to provide information to potential migrants.

Ms Vamvakinou said that the issue of securing an agreement between Australia and Greece on the introduction of Holiday Working Visas was discussed.

“Mr Phillip Ruddock made the point that when he was Immigration Minister, he actively sought a Working Holiday Visa arrangement between Australia and Greece and the Greek government at the time wasn’t interested.”

Ms Vamvakinou said she was not aware that currently, the Greek government had entered into a stage of negotiation that would yield early results on the Working Holiday Visa issue.

“It’s not necessarily their priority. It needs to be enforced and negotiated at the other end, but at the moment the Greek Parliament is preoccupied with the survival of the country, said the Federal Member for Caldwell.

“This issue of migration is a two-edged sword. They have to find a balance between actively encouraging emigration of their people and on the other hand, how they are going to rebuild. If we put ourselves in their shoes for a moment, I can see where they might be coming from.”

Ms Vamvakinou reported that the meeting also discussed the potential of the proposed Hellenic Australian Business Council, set to be established in Athens.

“Ambassador Bloomfield made the point that there has never been such a forum for the exchange of ideas [on trade],” said Ms Vamvakinou.

“Greece is going to need a lot of rebuilding and expertise, and if they’re open to Australia being involved, then I think there are some real practical ways for us to contribute. This could be a practical way in which the Australian Government can assist. “