Friday,
CANBERRA: Kylea Tink MP has joined a growing cohort of Members of Parliament and Senators to have signed the Joint Justice Initiative’s Affirmation of Support document calling on Australia to recognise the 1915 Genocides of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.
Tink was elected as the Federal Member for North Sydney at the 2022 Australian Federal Election, replacing staunch advocate for the cause of Genocide recognition, Trent Zimmerman. Tink vowed to continue her predecessor's support and advocacy for issues of importance to her local Armenian-Australian community.
Since her election to the Federal Parliament, Tink has joined the Australia-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Union (Friendship Group), declared her support for the rights to self-determination of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh through her membership of the Australian Friends of Artsakh network, and rose in the Federal Parliament to condemn Azerbaijan’s illegal invasion of the sovereign borders of the Republic of Armenia in 2022.
Michael Kolokossian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU), applauded Tink’s addition to the signatories of the Joint Justice Initiative.
“Ms Kylie Tink has been a vocal supporter of the local Armenian-Australian community since her election to the Federal Parliament, and we look forward to continuing our work with her. We also thank her for her principled stance,” said Kolokossian.
The Joint Justice Initiative has so far announced the support of Scamps, Kristy McBain MP, Senator Rachel Siewert, Susan Templeman MP, Adam Bandt MP, Senator Janet Rice, Steve Georganas MP, Michael Sukkar MP, Senator Louise Pratt, Warren Entsch, 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 Larissa Waters, Senator Pat Dodson, Josh Burns MP, Senator Andrew Bragg, Bob Katter MP, Sophie Scamps 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 recognise the Turkish-committed Genocides against the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian citizens of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The Joint Justice Initiative currently has over 35 signatories in Federal Parliament.
https://www.anc.org.au/news/Media-Releases/Kylea-Tink-MP-Signs-Joint-Justice-Initiative-In-Support-of-Australian-Recognition-of-Armenian–Assyrian-and-Greek-Genocides