CANBERRA: Newly elected Federal Member for Bennelong, Jerome Laxale MP rose in the Australian Parliament’s House of Representatives to acknowledge Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, as well as the activities of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) Youth Advocates.
Laxale, who replaced retiring John Alexander in the Federal seat of Bennelong in May 2022, and met with the ANC-AU Youth Advocates for the first time through his participation in a unique component of the program, the mock advocacy debate session, which he moderated alongside the Member for Brisbane, Stephen Bates.
Laxale also joined the ANC-AU Youth Advocates and Dr Arman Tatoyan in Parliament House’s Queen’s Terrace venue to launch the Australia-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Union (Friendship Group), which he co-convenes with Paul Fletcher MP, the Member for Bradfield.
On Wednesday 30th of November 2022, Laxale rose in the House of Representatives and utilised a 90-second Private Member’s Statement, to acknowledge the largest ANC-AU-led delegation in the parliament, which included over 25 ANC-AU Youth Advocates, Dr Arman Tatoyan and members of the ANC-AU National Office and Board.
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Jerome Laxale’s full statement:
Laxale said: “Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting with the Armenian National Committee of Australia’s youth advocates in Parliament House. Many of them, residents of Bennelong, home to the largest concentration of Australian-Armenians in the country, spend two days in our nation’s capital practising the art of political debate and advocacy in what is a fantastic program that encourages more young Australians to the political process.”
“When asked to discuss what matters most to them, they chose to highlight the injustices being committed against those in Armenia and Artsakh by Azerbaijan. I applaud the Foreign Ministers’ recent comments on the conflict, in particular, calling out Azerbaijan’s aggression in the region.”
“Lastly, Deputy Speaker, yesterday I had the pleasure to join the manager of opposition business to launch the Australia-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Union. We heard from Armenia’s former Human Rights Ombudsman and Director of Centre for Law and Justice, Dr Arman Tatoyan, who is in Australia to raise awareness about the conflict”.
“I thank … Mr Lolokossian and the Youth Advocates for their continued and tireless advocacy and for bringing the voice of the Australian-Armenian community to parliament, and I look forward to working for them as their new federal MP,” Laxale concluded.
ANC-AU Executive Director Michael Kolokossian said: “We thank Mr Jerome Laxale for his willingness to participate in the Youth Advocates program, hear from young Armenian-Australian and amplify the voice of our community on the floor of Parliament.”