Mayor of Yarra Cr Phillip Vlahogiannis met with the Consul General of Greece Christina Simantiraki last week to discuss the City of Yarra’s new Multicultural Partnerships Plan.
Hosted at the Richmond Town Hall, the pair discussed the long and rich history of migration to Melbourne, including the Greeks and their community involvement.
“Yarra has a long and proud heritage of multiculturalism. From our established communities like the Italians, Vietnamese and Greeks through to our more recently arrived African communities, Yarra is blessed with a culturally and linguistically diverse community,” said Cr Vlahogiannis.
Following mass migration post-war, between 1950 and 1970 many Greeks ventured out to Melbourne, working in inner-city suburbs such as Richmond, Fitzroy and Collingwood.
Said to have the third largest population of Greeks, Cr Vlahogiannis explained that many generations of Greek Australians had or maintained some kind of connection with the City of Yarra.
The new Multicultural Partnerships plan will outline Yarra’s commitment to promoting and fostering the diversity of Melbourne’s multicultural community, detailing how they wish to achieve this.
“Council is committed to ensuring people from multicultural backgrounds are valued, included, respected and engaged citizens who are free to express their cultural, linguistic and religious traditions without fear of discrimination,” he said.
The new plan is expected to be presented to the council for endorsement early next month.