- Published:
- Wednesday 14 October 2026 at 4:38 pm
I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which this House stands, the Wurundjeri and Bunurong people of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.
Good evening.
It is a pleasure to welcome you to Government House for the Victorian Multicultural Awards for Excellence.
When we speak of Victoria’s multicultural strength, we often reflect on the changes witnessed in living memory.
It can be easy to forget that our State has always been one of great diversity.
Long before European settlement, First Peoples cared for Country for countless generations, with around 40 Aboriginal languages spoken across what is now Victoria.
Then, more than a century and a half ago, the Gold Rush transformed the scale of migration, bringing people from many parts of the world.
Fast forward another hundred years, and Victoria was welcoming thousands of migrants post the Second World War.
Many of them began their story near our State’s northern border, in a camp at Bonegilla.
It is still there today – though now operating as an educational experience.
I had the opportunity to visit it just a few months ago.
Between 1947 and 1971, more than 300,000 migrants passed through that one centre.
For each of them, their arrival in Australia was to regional Victoria – a change of landscape and experience as different as could be from war-torn Europe.
They faced an unfamiliar climate, culture and cuisine.
Some had fled war or persecution. All sought work and a better future for their children.
Among the many migrants who passed through the camp was a boy by the name of Alex Chernov.
He had spent much of his childhood in a Europe shattered by war.
In 1949, just 10 years old, he arrived at Bonegilla unable to speak English.
His family later moved to Melbourne, where they began a new life.
By 1997, Alex was a Victorian Supreme Court judge, then Chancellor of the University of Melbourne in 2009 and, finally, Victoria’s 28th Governor in 2011.
As Governor, he would host these very awards here at Government House.
Alex Chernov – from Bonegilla Migrant Camp to Governor of Victoria.
It is a remarkable story, but one among countless others.
His generation was far from the first – or the last – to make a new life here.
Our multicultural story is not defined by the ‘waves’ of migration that have created the Australia we know now.
It is shaped by the contributions of everyone, no matter their beginnings, who has come to call this place home.
Not all of those who keep reshaping our city and State come from another hemisphere.
Thousands arrive from elsewhere in Australia each year, while almost 100,000 Victorians counted at the last Census were born in New Zealand, our cousins over the ditch.
Between 2008 and 2020, Melbourne grew by more than a million residents.
Each migrant story is a story of deeply personal change.
Change can bring uncertainty; be uncomfortable; challenge us.
While those personal stories bring something new to those finding themselves in a new place – they bring something new to all of us.
People who were once new arrivals become neighbours, colleagues and friends of those settled in this place before them.
And over time, those multicultural communities and their experiences have become defining parts of Victoria’s identity.
Multiculturalism is not something new to our State.
It is part of who we are as Victorians.
And tonight, we recognise those whose work is adding to that story of ongoing transformation.
This year’s nominees have helped make it possible for more Victorians to take part in the life of our State and to know that they have a place in it.
So, to all those recognised this year, on behalf of the people of Victoria:
Congratulations, and thank you.
I now invite the Premier to address us.
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