Damian Hale (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to put on the record my congratulations to the organising committee, the volunteers and the broader Greek community of Darwin for the successful Greek Glenti festival, which occurred in Darwin on 7 and 8 June this year at Bicentennial Park on the Esplanade. Thousands of Territorians and visitors alike converged on the Esplanade over the weekend to celebrate the festival’s 20th anniversary and to take in the unique atmosphere, the entertainment, the fireworks spectacular and, of course, the superb culinary delights.

Members on this side have always enjoyed and supported the Glenti, with the member for Watson attending last year. This year my colleague the member for Hindmarsh thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality the organisers extended to him as a guest at the event. I know that the Darwin Greek community was very happy at having an Australian Greek member of parliament attend, and I thank him and his wife, Wendy, for coming up.

The Glenti is a festival that celebrates the rich, vibrant Greek culture that exists in Solomon and raises a significant amount of money for charities each year. In fact this year the Glenti organisers handed over a cheque for $50,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an outstanding contribution to a fantastic charity.

It needs to be highlighted that the ongoing success of the Glenti does not happen by accident. It takes a lot of hard work by a lot of committed people. This year, the organising committee comprised the tireless Greek community president, John Nicolakis; the fantastic chairperson, Lilliane Gomatos; and the wonderful secretary, Tony Miaoudis. These people were ably assisted by representatives from all the Darwin Greek community organisations, including the Kalymnian Brotherhood, the Greek Macedonian Association and of course the Hellenic and Olympic soccer clubs—all of whom made the 20th Greek Glenti the most successful so far. The Greek community should be extremely proud of the festival’s success over the last 20 years, and I know we all look forward to the event getting bigger and better each year.

I will add at this point that the Greek community are an extremely important and active community force in Darwin, and I am especially proud to be assisting them with establishing an aged-care facility in Darwin. Although this facility is currently at a concept stage, I look forward to working hard with the Greek community and my federal and state colleagues to secure this important community facility.

Finally, it is fantastic to see the announcement yesterday that around 50,000 residents of Australia and Greece will soon have improved access to the age pension from the Greek and Australian governments. A new social security agreement between the two countries has been completed and will start on 1 October this year. Information about how to claim the payments will be available very soon. This initiative is terrific for the Greek community in Solomon and something I know they have been waiting for for a long time. To the Greek community in Darwin, I say congratulations.

I would also like to congratulate you, Madam Deputy Speaker Burke, on your first six months in the chair—a fantastic job; well done.

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