Last night I sat around a table of twelve people. To my left was my love Llama and then a variety of crusty old Russians who have come to Australia. Here is me, the Llama family, been a part of Australia for well on 200 years, sitting around a table with a bunch of new Australians, or Australians of only one or two generations.
The occasion was a marriage. The two where imports. From Russia and Argentina. As the newly happied couple gave their speech, they spoke about a common background, how their families had fled from oppressive regimes.
And it still happens, people arriving from far flung places looking for peace and security.
I think it is one of the great strengths of this nation – the ability to welcome people from all over the world. Long may it continue.
In fact the parents of your Love Llama were political refugees as well, escaping a potentially unpleasant situation in Africa in the 1970s.