In a historic announcement, the Australian Government recently announced it will be gifting 49 M1A1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine – the largest donation of tanks from any country in the world.
This was not a foregone conclusion. In fact, as a community, we were told many times that this would never happen. In light of this, I would like to acknowledge the powerful advocacy campaign that led to this historic decision by the Australian Government.
Embassy of Ukraine: Ukraine’s military aid requests are led by the Посольство України в Австралії / Embassy of Ukraine in Australia in a government-to-government format. Thank you to Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko and his team for the tireless work and consistent advocacy!
AFUO advocacy: the AFUO represents the Ukrainian community in Australia and acts to support the Embassy’s requests. AFUO leadership held over 60 meetings with government officials on the topic of military aid and continues to coordinate community efforts across Australia. Thank you to the AFUO Board for the strategy and support! A special thank you to our beloved late Stefan Romaniw for his remarkable leadership, efforts and advocacy!
Thank you also to the AFUO communications team, led by Nadia Mencinsky, for their tireless work behind the scenes covering everything from media engagement, to government relations, to social media!
Veteran advocacy: the AFUO recently hosted 2 guests from Ukraine — Major Andrii Berezovskyi and Pavlo Tsapiuk — who held high level meetings in Canberra and shared first- hand experience of what life was like on the frontline in Ukraine and how everyday Ukrainians have been impacted.
Major Andrii Berezovskyi also gave an interview to The Australian newspaper’s correspondent, Ben Packham, specifically advocating for M1A1 Abrams tanks and delivered a clear message about the difference they would make on the frontline. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Matthew Knott also published a strong article on Australia’s retiring tank fleet, further raising awareness.
Senate Inquiry into Australian Support for Ukraine: the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade received 230 submissions, conducted a series of hearings and published a report with 22 recommendations to Government. Thank you to Chair Senator Claire Chandler and Deputy Chair Senator Raff Ciccone for leading this inquiry and to the committee members and participating members for their work! Senator David Fawcett, Senator Ross Cadell, Senator Nita Green, Senator Jordon Steele-John, Senator David Shoebridge, Senator David Van. Special thank you to the Secretariat and staff, particularly Chris McNicol. Also a big thank you to everyone who took the time to write a submission and attended Senate hearings!
#FreeTheTaipans Campaign: at the end of last year, the Australian government made the controversial decision to disassemble and destroy 45 Taipan helicopters, valued at over $900m, instead of selling or donating them to Ukraine. Our community was understandably upset – the subsequent rallies around Australia and the world helped to lay the ground for concerns about what would happen to the Abrams tanks and other decommissioned equipment.
National Press Club: deeply grateful to Chris Ulhmann, Gerry Wheeler, Michael Fardell and the Screencraft team for travelling to Ukraine and producing a documentary on Ukraine called “Forged in Fire”. Peter Howarth and friends provided generous financial support. Chris later moderated a Press Club address on Ukraine in February where the Ambassador of Ukraine and I had the opportunity to address the nation about Australia’s support for Ukraine and to call for a strategic and consistent approach to aiding Ukraine’s fight for freedom and democracy.
Prominent Australians: some of the most consistent support and advocacy has come from prominent Australians who have no connection to Ukraine, but strongly believe in Ukraine’s fight and victory over evil. I’m deeply grateful to Major General (Ret’d) Mick Ryan and Chris Garnaut in particular for their consistent and steadfast support for Ukraine.
Community advocacy: earlier this year, the AFUO launched #CampaignForUkraine where hundreds of individuals wrote to their Members of Parliament, urging the Australian government to send military aid to Ukraine, in particular requesting decommissioned equipment. Thank you to all of our state organisations, Holovy Hromad, and every single community member who took the time to reach out to their MP and advocate for Ukraine. This is how democracy works. Our voices were heard. Thank you to all of our active community members who organised rallies, held events, wrote to the media, and raised awareness about russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the desperate need for more military aid.
Ukrainian Council of NSW – ОУГ НПВ, Association of Ukrainians in Victoria, Association of Ukrainians in SA, Ukrainian Community of Queensland Inc., Ukrainian Association Western Australia, Association of Ukrainians in Tasmania, Canberrans #StandWithUkraine, UAANT : Ukrainian-Australian Association of Northern Territory Incorporated.
Our community is immensely grateful for the military aid that will assist Ukrainians to defend themselves.
Thank you to the Australian Government for listening and for supporting Ukraine. In particular, a very big thank you to the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles MP, Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy MP, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong – Senator for SA.
We are also grateful to the opposition for their bipartisan support! Thank you to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Birmingham, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs Senator James Paterson, and Shadow Minister for Defence Andrew Hastie.
Also acknowledging the Australia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, led by Senator Catryna Bilyk and Senator Linda Reynolds for the continued support.
