As the Federal Member for Calwell, Maria Vamvakinou MP has the great pleasure of hosting a memorial lecture for her electorate’s namesake, Arthur A. Calwell. The lecture was held on Thursday evening at the Keilor Bowls Club with keynote speaker, the Hon Tanya Plibersek, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development.The lecture is held in honour of Arthur Calwell, Australia’s first Minister for Immigration. Ms Vamvakinou explained the importance of commemorating Arthur Calwell, “Calwell was responsible for expanding Australia’s immigration policy to include new migrants from southern and eastern Europe. It was this wave of post-WW II migration that laid the foundations for Australia’s successful multiculturalism policy.”Tanya Plibersek MP, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, delivered the lecture. In her speech, Ms Plibersek commended Calwell for establishing a policy of multiculturalism in Australia and referred to her own family’s immigration history. Ms Plibersek also took the time to answer questions from the crowd with questions relating to immigration and foreign affairs. Ms Plibersek stated that the Australian government “cannot ask other countries to be accountable to internationally agreed human rights instruments while refusing to be accountable ourselves.” This is the fourth Arthur Calwell Memorial Lecture Ms Vamvakinou has hosted. Previous speakers have included Lindsay Tanner, Kevin Rudd and Chris Bowen. The lecture is seen as an opportunity for leaders and future leaders of the ALP to speak about their vision for Australia and the visionary reform work of previous leaders such as Arthur Calwell.“Having the Tanya Plibersek, the keynote speaker is an opportunity to reflect on the people that Calwell’s reforms touched and provides an opportunity for a current leader of the ALP to share her vision with the local electorate,” Ms Vamvakinou said.
