Mrs STONE(10.52 p.m.) —Today, on International Human Rights Day, I want to speak about the contribution that migrants have made to the electorate of Murray and, in particular, to one group, the Albanians. The Albanians came out in the 1920s. In the last century our British and Irish settlers established world-best dairy, wheat and sheep production. In this century, the Albanians, the Greeks, the Turks, the Italians and the Dutch came out and established our world-best fruit and vegetable production.

In the 1920s, the Albanians came out literally with nothing more than what they stood in, got to work on the farmland and started to buy and work in orchards. They worked hard, bringing out their families until the 1940s. In 1945, it all stopped. There were no family reunions because of communism back in the home country. The Albanian community in Shepparton continued to thrive, working hard. They built up their mosque. They made sure their children learned both their old and the new ways and they became model Australian citizens. Back home, their homeland, Albania, was mired in economic stagnation. In 1992, communism was replaced by an independent Albania.

The Albanian-Australian community of Shepparton looked back to their homeland. Although many of them were disappointed to find that our Australian family reunion rules meant that it was too late after 50 years or so of separation for them to recontact their parents and grandparents—that generation had gone—they decided the one thing they could do as Australian-Albanians was to bring out their distant relatives and friends from their home country and have them learn how to become skilled horticultural workers in the Goulburn Valley.

For 12 months we have had some 20 workers come from Albania to the Goulburn Valley, to train at the Goulburn Valley TAFE and on farms around the district. At the end of the two years, they are going to have certificates in occupational rural studies. The Albanian-Muslim society fully covers their fee of some $6,000 through their own family sponsorship. They have brought with them their wives and their children. They are absolutely guaranteed to return to their home country, but while they are here they are learning English and becoming skilled.

The Australian-Albanian community know that this is one way that they can contribute back to their home country and build ties between these countries. They have the country they have now adopted and call home, where they have made such a major contribution as strong, hardworking, honest Australians. At the same time, they recognise that the country of their birth, of their parents and grandparents, needs the skills that only Australia can teach at this time.

I think that is a fantastic example of what multiculturalism is all about in Australia. It is all about our country accepting difference in religion. The Albanian community have their Muslim mosque and we appreciate that mosque in the Shepparton community. We admire their religious convictions and the strength of their teachings as their children from one generation to the next become strong Muslims. We admire their hard work; we admire their contribution to every aspect of Australian society. We also admire their continued association with their home country and the fact that today they are helping to make the new Albania economically independent.

I am proud to speak about the Albanian Goulburn Valley community tonight. I hope these first occupational trainees will go back with a lifelong sense of the friendship that Australia extends. I hope that other ethnic and international groups will come out and also try to learn like these Albanian people have by taking a similar course. Certainly, the Goulburn Valley TAFE will welcome all those oncoming sets of new trainees.