Continuing the tradition of Nicholas Kotsiras, the new Victorian Minister of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Matthew Guy also has migrant roots.
Mr Guy’s mother’s family is from the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, a place the new minister has visited a number of times and one in which many members of his family still live. Mr Guy’s grandparents, uncle and mother came to Australia in 1949 after being displaced following the WWII.
“The peaceful, modern Australia we know today has been built with the help of waves of migrants coming from all over the world,” Mr Guy said earlier in the week.
“I am proud of my Australian and Ukrainian heritage and particularly of the journey that my maternal grandparents made with their young family to come to the other side of the world. However, I am prouder still of the way in which Australia accepts and welcomes so many people to its shores.”
“We are all truly lucky to live in such a wonderful nation.”
Mr Guy also paid tribute to the strong, ongoing contributions of Victoria’s many multicultural communities and expressed his excitement in representing them as the new Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship.
“With more than 26 per cent of Victorians being born overseas, Victoria is a leading example of how cultural and linguistic diversity enriches every part of our society,” the new minister said.
Mr Guy also stated that he was eager to assume the portfolio following the launch of a landmark multicultural policy earlier this month and paid tribute to the years of hard work by outgoing Minister Nicholas Kotsiras.
The policy that Mr Kotsiras guided and developed, Victoria’s Advantage – Unity, Diversity, Opportunity, signalled the first time that clear indicators such as school retention and labour force participation would track and measure the success of Victoria’s multicultural affairs.
“Victoria’s Advantage outlines a plan to support social cohesion and citizenship, while reducing instances of racial and religious discrimination,” Mr Guy said.
“A more comprehensive picture of Victoria’s progress in multicultural affairs and citizenship will better assist in identifying emerging trends and issues within certain cultural groups, so I look forward to being able to implement this fantastic new policy,” he concluded.