Tim Hammond (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great privilege to rise to support this motion moved by the member for Chifley. Not only does he have a better jump shot than me on the basketball court but his command of Tagalog is also much better than mine—but I will do my best with a very exuberant 'Mabuhay!', cross my fingers and see how we go. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Ambassador Her Excellency Minda Calaguian-Cruz and the ACT consul general, Ms Nina Cainglet. It is lovely to be in your presence today. I join those members from the western suburbs of Sydney, who have a predominant, very vibrant and diverse contingent of people from the Philippines in their electorates. I also join with the celebration on the western side of the country. There are about 20,000 Philippines-born people living in Western Australia, and there is an incredibly vibrant and active community in my electorate of Perth. Indeed, I had to give my apologies a few weeks ago to the Filipino Australian Multicultural Association dinner to celebrate the Philippines independence day as a result of physically not being able to be in two places on two sides of the country at once. But I made up for it in the year before, again with the member for Chifley—we are spending so much time together these days people might start talking! He accompanied me—

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