CANBERRA: The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) has welcomed the appointment of Tim Wilson MP, who has been promoted to a new position in the Federal Government.
The Member for the Victorian electorate of Goldstein, who is the only current Federal parliamentarian with Armenian ancestry, was appointed as the Assistant Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions.
The appointment follows a ministerial shake-up by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, following the resignation of the Christian Porter MP from the ministry. Angus Taylor MP’s existing ministerial responsibilities of Energy and Emissions will now include Industry, leading to the ascension of Wilson to the role of Assistant Minister.
Wilson, a member of the Armenia-Australia Inter-Parliamentary Union (Friendship Group), has been a long-standing vocal and prominent supporter of Armenian-Australian issues, fiercely advocating for his government’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide and solidarity with the indigenous Armenian self-determined Republic of Artsakh.
Wilson is well known for having championed a Private Members Motion in 2018, recognising the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.
Wilson was also part of the historic first Federal Australian delegation to Armenia, where he paid his respects at the Armenian Genocide Memorial, and on several occasions has risen in Parliament to recount the plight of Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks during the 1915 genocides committed by Ottoman Turkey.
ANC-AU Executive Director Haig Kayserian said: “The Armenian National Committee of Australia congratulates one of our own, Mr. Tim Wilson, for his well-deserved appointment to the Assistant Ministry in the Morrison government.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with him and his parliamentary colleagues to promote issues of concern to Armenian-Australians,” added Kayserian.
