MELBOURNE: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC Australia) has welcomed the pre-selection of Hovig Melkonian as the Australian Labor Party's candidate for the Federal seat of Casey in Victoria.
Melkonian is a current ANC Australia National Board member and he will take an extended leave of absence from his position to contest the election, which will likely take place no later than 2016.
79% of Labor members in the Casey branch supported Melkonian’s nomination as their Party's candidate and he was pre-selected unopposed by Labor’s public office selection committee.
“I'm honoured to have earned the support of rank-and-file members to contest the next federal election as the Labor candidate for Casey,” Melkonian said.
“This is the part of the world where I grew up. I’m very proud to have the opportunity to represent this community.”
Melkonian will be running against the incumbent Liberal Member for Casey and new Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tony Smith MP.
Melkonian studied Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics Engineering at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). He has also served in the National Union of Students as a Welfare Officer and as an RMIT Council Member.
Greg Soghomonian, Chairman of ANC Australia, said: “We warmly welcome the pre-selection of Hovig as the Labor candidate for Casey. Participation in public office is an important element for the development of our nation and we are confident that if elected, Hovig will make an enormous contribution to Australia.”
Vache Kahramanian, Executive director of ANC Australia, echoed these sentiments: “I have had the great pleasure of working with Hovig for many years. He has been a great asset to the Armenian National Committee and he will be an even greater asset to the Australian nation.”
