More than 200 special dignitaries and guests attended the 32nd annual Ethnic Business Awards Gala Presentation dinner event, at Sydney’s Four Seasons Hotel on Friday night. The Ethnic Business Awards, celebrate diversity, multiculturalism, and success against the odds.
The Prime Minister, Mr. Scott Morrison, gave a warm opening address at the event attended by more than 200 people, while Federal Opposition Leader, Mr. Anthony Albanese presented one of the three winners awards.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke on the importance of recognising both migrant and Indigenous success stories, saying: “The migrant story of Australia is extraordinary. But what I love about these awards is they don’t just connect the migrant story of Australia, but they connect the Indigenous story of Australia as well. And these are the things that we celebrate together as one country with cultures that go back over 60,000 years”.
“I find the people here very inspirational,” Mr. Albanese said, adding that “we are a better country because of every one of the nominees who have been honoured tonight.”
Founded in 1988 by Joseph Assaf AO, the Ethnic Business Awards were designed to recognise outstanding accomplishments of migrant and Indigenous enterpeneurs, highlighting their contributions to Australian business and society.
Neos Kosmos has been a proud sponsor of the Ethnic Business Awards Foundation for many years.
2022 Ethnic Business Awards Winners:
The night was a celebration of Success Against the Odds and featured stories from twelve finalists across three categories. Namely the Indigenous In Business Category, Small Business Category and the Henry Ngai Medium to Large Business Category.
- The Henry Ngai Medium to Large Business Category was presented by Leader of the Opposition, The Honourable Anthony Albanese. The winner in this category was Josef Chromy of the JAC Group in Tasmania.
- The Small Business Category was presented by The Honourable Alex Hawke, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. This year’s winner was Dr Ved Berani from Healthy Smiles Dental Group in Victoria.
- The Indigenous in Business Category was presented by The Honourable Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Australians. Ray Pratt from DICE in the Northern Territory took out the win in this category.
- A new award, The Global Harmony Award was presented on the night for the first time. The award was also created by Founder, Chairman and Major Sponsor of the Awards, Mr Joseph Assaf AO. This is a first of its kind and was created to honour outstanding business people who are making extraordinary contributions to not only their local communities but to Australia as a whole and just as importantly, to the rest of the world. This was awarded to the late Henry Ngai of ABC Tissue and was accepted by his son, Sunny Ngai.
The Greek representation
Once again in 2022, there was Greek-Australian representation in Dimitrios Krallidis’ Sydney-based DSK Kitchens & Furniture, which was nominated as a Finalist for the Small Business Award.
Boasting over 25-years’ experience and multiple family generations among its team, DSK was recognised as a leading innovator in design and manufacturing, with its state-of-the-art showroom and factory space in Botany.
Mr. Krallidis was quoted saying that he was “extremely humbled and proud” for DSK to be nominated.
“The significance of the Australian manufacturing industry was highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic as it helped provide job security for all Australians,” he said.
Clare Robinson-Gale, the EBA Foundation’s Senior Events Manager, stated that “The EBA salutes Dimitrios.
“He has built a brilliant family business with determination and discipline and is frequently honoured with industry awards,” she said, adding that “we have no doubt that he will inspire many people and uplift them too.
“This is what the EBA is all about.”
Supporting the recognition of Indigenous businesses
Lastly, the Morrison Government is providing $27,500 to the Ethnic Business Awards (EBA) Foundation to support the Indigenous Business Award category presented at the foundation’s gala dinner.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM, MP, said he’s committed to supporting the recognition of Indigenous businesses and the enormous contribution they make to the nation.
“The Ethnic Business Awards is an important occasion acknowledging the success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs who have embarked on the challenging venture of business,” Minister Wyatt said.
“We want to ensure these messages of success reach near and far, beyond the Awards night itself, and that’s why we’re providing funding that contributes to production costs for a three-minute documentary following the personal story of each Indigenous business shortlisted this year.
“You can’t be what you can’t see. This funding will help share these success stories to a bigger audience via SBS, NITV and Aurora TV.
The event also saw a heartfelt commemoration for two late judges of the Awards, former Governor-General Major General the Hon. Michael Jeffery AC AO (Mil) CVO MC (Retd), and fashion icon Carla Zampatti AC AM, who died in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
SBS will be featuring the awards on Saturday 26th February from 16:30 until 18:30. It will also be televised on Thursday
24th February at 15:00. The Awards will also be televised on NITV and Aurora Community Channel.
