Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) President Bill Papastergiadis was invited by Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge to participate in a multicultural briefing on the impact of this year’s Budget on multicultural communities.
Mr Papastergiadis asked “what consideration the government was giving to allow our communities to travel and visit their loved ones overseas or equally to allow their loved ones to visit Australia.”
The minister said that quarantine restrictions due to COVID-19 had been an impediment to this, however 58,000 Australians have left the country since border closures were imposed. He accepted that quarantine was a “speed hump” to migration and that states are playing key roles in setting those limits. For instance, Victoria is not allowing an quarantining whatsoever.
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Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the multicultural media that bubbles with other countries will be opened in the near future, with New Zealand being the first country where travel will be allowed.
Mr Papastergiadis also asked about skilled migrants and “whether (Australia) would be open to allowing our communities to work with the government on developing better links with certain countries, including Greece”, and he also referred to the lobbying by the Greek Community of Melbourne which resulted in a skills expo in Thessaloniki a few years ago.
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Mr Tudge said he was further open to conversations on this issue.
