Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to commend the achievements of the local Karen community in my home town of Katanning. Many of these refugees lived in refugee camps in Thailand after fleeing unrest in their homeland of Burma. They were settled in Katanning largely through the efforts of Paul Kyaw, a Karen himself and a career development officer at the Multicultural Services Centre of WA. Paul foresaw work opportunities for them as non-English-speakers with a strong work ethic, and the Karen community have subsequently been a valuable addition to the workforce at our local meat abattoir.

I would also like to make special mention at this time of a remarkable local woman, Jean Phillips, known affectionately as Aunty Jean, who has been pivotal in welcoming these refugees over the years and assisting them to transition into life in our community. Jean has assisted them in obtaining the necessities of Australian life, securing a roof over their heads and enrolling their children in schools, as well as guiding them through the necessary paperwork associated with accessing banking, benefits and loans. It is thanks to the generous efforts of volunteers such as Jean that we see the Karen integrating well into the multicultural melting pot that is my home town of Katanning.

The Karen children have settled well into the local schools, fluently bilingual and achieving good results. Graduates are now filtering into local employment, apprenticeships and further education, with young men training as plumbers, painters and mechanics and young women in nursing, teaching and child care. Committed to putting down firm roots in Katanning, the members of the 150-strong Karen community have purchased over 28 homes in the seven years since their resettlement. I take this opportunity to commend the Karen people in my electorate on their commitment to forging a rich and fulfilling life here in their new homeland while retaining their cultural and religious diversity.

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