Politics is not about personal relationships, it’s about what’s in the best interest of the country”
Federal Labor MP Bill Shorten has personally thanked the Greek community for their contribution to the fabric of Australia.
“We are lucky that so many Greeks made the journey to Australia,” the Minister for Education and Workplace Relations tells Neos Kosmos.
“We are lucky they brought their sense of community, their stories from every village and every city in Greece.
“We are lucky they put so much effort in raising their families. Thank you.”
In an interview with Neos Kosmos deputy editor Kostas Nikolopoulos, Mr Shorten said the Federal Labor Party was committed to multiculturalism and issues impacting on the ethnic communities, including our Greek community.
“Labor is fully committed to multiculturalism; we are a migrant nation. In 2006 23/100 Australians were born overseas, in 2011 26/55,” the Federal Minister said.
“If Labor could improve the confidence of people who are immigrants to Australia well do very well.”
Mr Shorten advised that the government is committed to planning for the future of Australia, and have a steady plan set for the post mining boom. Creating more jobs for Australians is the main priority for the ALP who have already created 966,000 jobs since being in power.
“Labor stands for the creation of good jobs, good schools, a good safety net, good health care, a national disability scheme and people need to have enough money when they retire, a pension and a super,” he said.
“Politics is not about personal relationships, it’s about what’s in the best interest of the country.”
Education was a top priority for the party with a focus on students of a non-English background. The creation of better schools, TAFEs and universities arfor all Australians are what motivate the ALP.
“There is no reason as to why we shouldn’t try to become the smartest and most imaginative country in the world,” he said.
When asked about immigration, Mr Shorten noted that Australia was opening their doors once again to Greek migration. But when asked about the PNG solution and asylum seekers, he said the reason why Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made the decision was because the Federal Government was committed to “stop mass drowning and criminal syndicates feeling up the spaces for other immigrants”.
“This year we are taking in 180.000 immigrants – some of them are from Greece – a portion of our immigration intake is for refugees we’ve increased the intake to 20.000, we are considering increasing it to 27,000, in terms of organised settlement we are third in the world we’ve taken in 700,000 people since WWII.”
The strong relationship of the Labor Party with the Greek Australian community was also highlighted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives Anna Burke. Speaking to Kostas Nikolopoulos, Anna Burke said that she has worked very closely with the Greek community all these years, for the inclusion of Modern Greek to the national curriculum program, for the funding of Oakleigh Grammar, as well as for Greek national issues and she stressed that the Greek community knows that Labor governments do make a difference in their lives.
