At tea with the Prime Minister

Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his wife Margie played host at Kirribilli House, their official harbourside Sydney residence, to Australia’s ethnic press.

Among the myriad of nations represented at the afternoon tea party were representatives of Jewish media outlets J-Wire and The Australian Jewish News.

Tony Abbott told the media gathering that his grandparents on his mother’s side were migrants and that his father was a migrant and that “by an accident of my parents’ geography at the time I am myself a migrant.”

He said that as a result of the multicultural character of Australia “we have insights into the whole world…Australia is the global village in one country.”

He said that people can come to Australia from “the four corners of the Earth  and “can be of any culture, any religion, any ethnicity”.

He said that”their children, if not themselves, can aspire to the highest office of the land”.

When I see people who represent the breadth, depth and diversity of modern Australia I feel very encouraged about our future.

Senator Concetta Anna Fierravanti-Wells added: “Australia is one of the most culturally diverse yet socially cohesive nations on earth. .45% of us were born overseas or have one parent who was born overseas.

The role you play every day is so important. You bring Australian news, you bring international news to our culturally divers society. But you are also those very important people to people links that make the relationship between Australia and the news of your respective countries that you bring to Australia.”