Thursday, 24 September 2026

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:55): (2846) My adjournment this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, and the action that I seek is that he continues to support Victoria’s vibrant Ukrainian community. I am conscious of the fact that I have spoken about the matter of Ukraine quite a lot in this Parliament, and I am also cognisant of the fact that we are first and foremost a state Parliament, but there is much that we can do and that we have talked about in support for our local community that I have been very proud to, in a small way, contribute towards along with Mr Tarlamis, the member for Bulleen and several other colleagues in this place. I am cognisant of the fact, though, that it is not our role as state MPs to spend the majority of our time talking about international issues, nor in fact should my commentary be seen to be minimising any other conflict, whether it be in the Middle East or in Sudan or any other part of the world where people are experiencing great hardship. I thought I would take a brief moment to talk about why I do talk about Ukraine. Several members of this place have asked me if I have Ukrainian ancestry; I do not. My drive on this issue really started before I was elected in 2022 when I was horrified at what I was seeing on my TV screen: a free, liberal democracy being invaded by a totalitarian evil neighbour. I was shocked and outraged and felt powerless about what to do.

Ukraine made a conscious pivot towards free, liberal democracy in 2013, and for that they were punished and invaded the year after, an invasion which escalated in 2022. Shortly after the full-scale invasion, I, along with many others here, was first elected to this chamber, and I had a platform to speak. But more than a platform, I found a community, an incredible community: the Ukrainian community here in Victoria, including in the south-east based in Noble Park and across this state. There are so many incredible people I have had the opportunity to work with, including Chrestyna Kmetj, Ashley Awramenko, Eugene Hawryszko, Teresa Lachowicz and many, many more and of course the late, great Stefan Romaniw. I also, through some of these people, had the opportunity to visit Ukraine and saw some horrifying and shocking things, but I also saw the spirit of the Ukrainian people loud and clear. It was a spirit of democracy, of human rights and of freedom, and it is a spirit that tells me that they will win.

We can all be very proud that Australia has contributed, along with many other countries, to Ukraine’s success, and I welcome today’s announcement of a 10-year strategic partnership as I call again for our governments to do more. It is a moral imperative, and it is in our country’s strategic interests to do so. For my last adjournment today, I will reiterate that for as long as I have a voice to I will continue speaking up for the Ukrainian people and their struggle for freedom. Slava Ukraini.