March of the Living: First Australian bi-partisan delegation
The trip “changed our lives and it gave us some perspective at a time when we need to have leadership now more than ever.”
Members of the first Australian bipartisan political delegation to participate in the March of the Living (MOTL) gathered at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) on August 6 to share their personal reflections.
The initiative was organised by MOTL CEO Gary Samovitz in conjunction with co-convenors of the Victorian Parliamentary Friends of Israel Paul Hamer (ALP MP for Box Hill) and David Southwick (Liberal MP for Caulfield).
Along with Hamer and Southwick, politicians who participated included: Labor MPs Nina Taylor (Albert Park), Ryan Batchelor (Southern Metropolitan Region) and Michael Galea (South-Eastern Metropolitan Region); Liberal MPs James Newbury (Brighton) and Rachel Westaway (Prahan); National MPs Emma Kealy (Lowan) and Tim Bull (Gippsland East).
Moderating the panel at the MHM, Southwick said the trip “changed our lives and it gave us some perspective at a time when we need to have leadership now more than ever.”
Galea said he found the trip ‘incredibly moving” and that it was special to be accompanied by Holocaust survivor Mark Spigelman and to hear his story of survival.
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