Tasmanian Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has signed the Joint Justice Initiative’s Affirmation of Support, joining dozens of Federal Australian parliamentarians pledging to support calls for national recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides.
The February 2020 launch of the Joint Justice Initiative at Australia’s Parliament House featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), Assyrian National Council – Australia (ANC) and Australian Hellenic Council (AHC), which declares Australia’s recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides as a priority on behalf of their communities.
An economist by training, Whish-Wilson has represented the state of Tasmania in the Australian Parliament’s Upper House since 2013. He has previously served as the Chair of committees and has been an advocate for numerous human rights issues.
Haig Kayserian, the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), welcomed Whish-Wilson’s support and thanked him for joining the Joint Justice Initiative.
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“On behalf of the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities, I would like to thank Senator Whish-Wilson for standing on the side of truth and justice on the genocides that took away millions of our ancestors,” Kayserian said.
The Joint Justice Initiative has so far announced the support of Whish-Wilson, Trent Zimmerman MP, Kristy McBain MP, Senator Rachel Siewert, Susan Templeman MP, Adam Bandt MP, Tim Wilson MP, Senator Janet Rice, Steve Georganas MP, Michael Sukkar MP, Senator Louise Pratt, Warren Entsch, Joel Fitzgibbon MP, Andrew Wilkie MP, Julian Leeser MP, Michelle Rowland MP, Senator Paul Scarr, Tony Zappia MP, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Senator Hollie Hughes, Senator Rex Patrick, Mike Freelander MP, Senator Eric Abetz, Senator Larissa Waters, Senator Pat Dodson, Jason Falinski MP, Josh Burns MP, John Alexander MP, Senator Andrew Bragg and Bob Katter MP with a promise of more announcements to come.
On 25th February 2020, over 100 Federal Australian parliamentarians, diplomats, departmental officials, political staffers, academics, media and community leaders were treated to cultural performances, food, wine and brandy, as well as the historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which affirmed that the signatory public affairs representatives of the three communities were jointly committed to seeing Australia recognize the Turkish-committed Genocides against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.