Craig Laundy is the first parliamentarian I can remember in a long time, from one of the major parties, who stood up for refugees and got a promotion for his efforts.
Last year when the Syrian and Iraq refugee crisis escalated, Sydney Liberal MP Craig Laundy asked the Government to intervene and grant more places to these asylum seekers.
At the time this had not been a popular cause inside the Liberal Party.
The result of his efforts, assisted by some others, was 12,000 new places created in the migration programme for people from Iraq and Syria.
The decision to increase the numbers came on September 9 last year. That day I spoke to Mr Laundy about his decision to push for the asylum seekers.
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"I reached out to the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and I simply said 'Please can we do more'," he said.
This was a U-turn in coalition policy that had been ruled out just days before. In this case lobbying worked. It was an historic moment in migration policy.
"This process has been a great journey, not for me, but for our party and the result has been even better, not for us, not for this country, but for the 12,000 people who we will give a chance to," Mr Laundy told SBS news that night.
This took place under Prime Minister Tony Abbott. In his speech to Parliament on September 9 the Prime Minister explained the government's response.
"In recent days for obvious and understandable reasons, there has been a great deal of concern on all sides of this parliament about the unfolding humanitarian crisis on the borders of Syria," he said.
"I reached out to the Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and I simply said 'Please can we do more'."
"I deeply respect the contributions that members of parliament have made and I now wish to update the house on decisions that the government has taken to respond.
"Obviously, all of us were shocked as a nation at the disaster that we saw on our television screens. All of us as a nation wanted to help. If I may say so, that is the Australian way: when we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves and do what we can to help.
"We will take an additional 12,000 people from the Syria-Iraq conflict over and above our existing refugee and humanitarian program. This is an important and generous act by Australia."
Mr Laundy, a backbencher little-known outside his Sydney electorate of Reid, has been promoted into the outer ministry by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the reshuffle.
He is the new Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Part of his new job will be to oversee the resettlement of those 12,000 asylum seekers. Some of them are already here. He will assist the work of Ministers Christian Porter (Social Services) and Peter Dutton (Immigration).
Mr Laundy is a great admirer of Mr Turnbull, so his promotion is not so surprising, but in a parliament with a lot of new Liberal Party talent in the class of 2013 he has been promoted quickly.
Prime Minister Turnbull gave him a big wrap at his weekend press conference.
“Craig Laundy is a formidable communicator," he said.
"He is a truly charismatic politician - if you've been out with him in his electorate you would know what I mean. He radiates warmth and ability to connect with people from every background. He has worked very well with organisations and groups from every conceivable cultural, racial, religious background. So he's very well equipped to do this. “
The Prime Minister said it is an important role.
“We are the most successful multicultural society in the world, there's no doubt. Few people would doubt that. But we can't take that for granted and so it's very important that we - that all of our policies are focused on strengthening that, building up that mutual respect which underpins the harmony which has made us such a successful country.”
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Unlike a lot of modern politicians Mr Laundy is not a party hack or political operative. He has come to politics via a successful family business - his family own pubs and other businesses around New South Wales. He doesn’t owe his seat to any backroom deal.
It is his profile and links in the electorate that saw him win. It has also given him the belief that he could speak up in the party room where others have felt they couldn’t do so without being punished by the party.
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His seat, like several other inner metropolitan areas of Sydney and Melbourne, is multicultural and has been for decades.
He won the seat of Reid from Labor at the last election. It is a seat based on the suburbs of Drummoyne, Concord, Homebush, Strathfield and Auburn. In his case the redistribution has taken Auburn out, increasing his margin to around 4 per cent, from 0.8.
Unlike a lot of modern politicians Mr Laundy is not a party hack or political operative. He has come to politics via a successful family business. He doesn’t owe his seat to any backroom deal.
Mr Laundy takes over Multicultural Affairs from New South Wales Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells who has been promoted to Minister for International Development and the Pacific.
"Connie", as she is known in Parliament, is herself a tough political warrior who turned into an even tougher player as she negotiated her way into a role with the Turnbull side in the months since the September leadership coup. She had been appointed to the Multicultural Affairs portfolio by Prime Minister Abbott, and when he was overthrown she was not assured of continuing.
Many could have expected that Senator Fierravanti-Wells, as a right wing conservative Liberal, would be squeezed out by the Turnbull forces. Instead the opposite has happened. Senator Fierravanti-Wells backed herself and argued strongly to Malcolm Turnbull and his team that they needed her in there as a conservative, as a woman and as a multicultural voice. She made the case and used her numbers and support in the party to get that outcome.
