Wednesday, 22 February 2023

 Matthew GUY (Bulleen) (09:55): This Friday Victoria’s Ukrainian community will meet to mark a year of formal Russian invasion of the country. Although Ukrainians know that the invasion was in fact around nine years ago through Donetsk and Luhansk, this time Russia has taken quite a lot more land around Zaporizhzhia and Mariupol and of course in Crimea. Ukrainians, particularly those in Australia who have family in Ukraine like my own, know that those people – those 47 million Ukrainians – have seen the invasion of farms. They have seen civilian buildings and schools blown up and kids – children – murdered. This has come from nightly missile strikes, ground attacks and the Russian invasion that has taken place over the last year.

Ukraine has prevailed to date, and it has received much international support. Here in Australia I want to put on record the Ukrainian community’s great support and indeed appreciation of now two federal governments, of most – not all but most – members of this Parliament and of many, many multicultural communities in this state who have been exceptionally supportive of the Ukrainian community in our time of need. It is a fight not between Ukraine and Russia. This is a fight between peace and tyranny, between tolerance and fascism, and it is one the civilised world cannot afford to lose. For all of those who have put so much into this effort to support Ukraine and to support those families back home: slava Ukraini.