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H.E.Milad Raad, Hon.Shaoquett Moselmane and Roala Azar

 Hon.Shaoquett Moselmane hosted Welcome Reception for New Ambassador of Lebanon H. E. Milad Raad
(Coverage by: Syed Zafar Hussain, Editor-in-Chief Sada-e- Watan Sydney)

On Monday 19 March 2018, Prominent Lebanese Australian Dignitary The Honourable Shaoquett Moselmane MP, Opposition Whip hosted a Welcome reception for newly appointed Ambassador of Lebanon His Excellency Milad Raad and his wife Roala Azar. This event was held at the Rockdale Town hall Sydney and attended by leading Arab leaders, diplomats and

Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane starting Flag Raising Ceremony

 dignitaries. The official program starts with National Anthems of Lebanon and Australia. Later H.E.Milad Raad lead

for Flag Raising Ceremony.

Respect for the National Anthum

After Flag Raising second part of the program starts and in Rockdale Town Hall, host of the evening, Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane MLC officially welcomes New appointed Ambassador H.E. Milaad Raad. The Mayor of Bayside Council Cllr Bill Saravinovski talks about his council efforts for serving Multicultural population of the area and appreciates Lebanese Australian community. The Ambassador of Lebanon H.E. Milad Raad highly appreciates Ho. Shaoquett Moselmane and thanks for warm Welcome & best wishes. Ambassador hopes he will keep close contact with all during his diplomatic tenure in Australia.

Welcome Speech notes of Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane MLC

Ladies and gentlemen before I begin, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.
I acknowledge each and every one of you and the many special guests we have here this evening and in particular:
• His Excellency Mr Milad Raad and his wife Mrs Roula Azar.
• His Excellency CG of Pakistan Mr Abdul Majid Yousafani
• His Excellency Yousef Shawki CG of Egypt
• Honorary Rep of Arab Republic of Syria Mr Maher Dabbagh,
• Mayor of Bayside Council, Councillor Bill Saravinovski
• Deputy Mayor Councillor Joe Awada
• Bayside Councillors, Clr Liz Barlow and Clr Tarek Ibrahim,
• Shadow Minister for Water Member for Kogarah Chris Minns
• Shadow Minister for Education Jihad Dib
• Member for Rockdale Steve Kamper
• Clr Ali Karnib, Clr Sam Iskandar, Former Clr Hicham Zraika
• Media Representatives, Community leaders, religious reps and other distinguished guests.
• Apology from H E Charbel Macron and the Hon John Ajaka and Mrs Betty Abu Al-Hamad.

I thank you for joining me in welcoming to Australia the recently appointed Ambassador to Australia from the Lebanese Republic, His Excellency Mr Milad Raad and your wife Mrs Roula Azar.

As well we extend our warmest greetings to the newly arrived Mr Charbel Macron and Mrs Joelle Nahoul, who will serve here in Sydney as Consul General of Lebanon. Unfortunately he is unable to be with us, however, he sincerely apologises but conveys his best wishes to you all.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Diplomats are not just public servants. They are the face of the country they represent. What they say and do impacts on foreign and trade relations.
They are also the spokespeople whose role it is to articulate the message of the country they represent. This is mostly the role of the Ambassador.
The Consul General on the other hand has the task of promoting trade and tourism and facilitating as well as serving and attending to the needs of the community and individuals alike.
All are important and a good diplomat always knows of the significance of each and every citizen.

So this is a not an easy job but a demanding, high pressure job.

I know that the Ambassador and the Consul General will serve the community well and will attend to the needs of all equally.

Combined and between their offices they have a very sensitive task attending to the demands of the Australian Lebanese community and of course to the needs of the Lebanese government.
Sometimes the needs or demands can be immediate and exhausting as was the case in the preparation for the recent LDE conference.

In his book, “The Conduct of Foreign Relations under Modern Democratic Conditions”, DeWitt Poole, argues that too often the gaze is set on what the elected heads of the foreign affairs bureaucracies of our world say and do – the Julie Bishops and Mike Pompeos of the world. Or in our case the Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran basil.

But in fact, the execution - putting into place real policy - rests with “trained professional hands” in the field, by which he meant those Ambassadors and Consuls who make up a key part of the diplomatic core.

In this context, I am very pleased to welcome His Excellency Mr Raad, and CG Mr Charbel Macron, to Australia as professionals with an extremely high degree of special aptitude and training in the field of diplomacy.

His Excellency comes to us with prior experience in Australia, having been Charge d’Affaires in Canberra from 2013 to February 2016. Mr Raad also has extensive experience as Charge d’Affaires Pakistan as well as having been Consul at the Lebanese Embassy in Cairo.

His long service to the Ministry of Emigrants will no doubt be of great use to him here in Australia which will obviously see him, as he is today, serving not just the Lebanese Republic but the many emigrants of the diaspora that live throughout different parts of Australia.

No other profession is required so constantly to adapt and build bridges: between national and multinational interests, between reality and values or between old and new holders of power.
The most difficult part of the job always falls on the partner behind the diplomat and in this case it is Roala Azar. She will be the behind the scenes confidant, the silent achiever. I wish her all the best in this new job.

Before I conclude and call on the Mayor I wish to thank Louay Moustapha and his family for the catering and in particular to his Wife Reem and his Mum for the refreshments made available for us to enjoy.Also we always grateful to Ibrahim pastry for their ongoing generosity and support.
Special thanks to the Council for the support and for providing this beautiful hall for us to celebrate the appointment of His Excellency Milad Raad.

Hon. Shaoquett Moselmane

H.E.Milad Raad

Mayor Bill Saravinovski

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