Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pride that I rise as well in support of the motion put up by the member for Kingsford Smith, the motion on International Mother Language Day, which is celebrated on 21 February. I would also like to acknowledge our wonderful guests who are here from the Bangladeshi community and other communities, where this particular international day was recognised in accordance with some historic events that took place. We should acknowledge that as well.

International Mother Language Day, which began in the year 2000, places a great focus on the benefits of language and the diversity of other tongues and how important that connection is, because language is what connects us to our mothers, our fathers, our grandfathers, our grandmothers, our great-grandfathers and our great-grandmothers—and so goes the chain. The moment you break that language chain is the moment you break that connection with your ancestry, history and everything that makes you who you are. It's so important to celebrate this particular day, especially in a nation like Australia, where we have a wonderful multicultural community. For example, in my electorate of Hindmarsh, over 200 languages are spoken, everything from Hindi to Greek, Italian and Chinese—you name it, it's spoken. It's so wonderful to attend some of those cultural events I attend every weekend, as no doubt most of you in this House do as well. Chinese New Year events are coming up this week. We have Greek festivals, Hindi festivals, Sikh festivals, Deepavali, Indigenous events around the country, the Italian festival, Carnevale, and many Bangladeshi festivals.

I take great pride in being able to say a few words in Greek when I attend the Greek festivals or even Italian at the Italian festivals I go to, simple lines like, 'Ciao. Mi chiamo Steve Georganas. Sono il deputato federale Hindmarsh. Grazie per avermi invitato'—very simple—which means, 'Thank you very much for inviting me. My name is Steve Georganas. I'm your federal member of parliament.' You see the joy on people's faces from those two or simple three lines and the connection that you make with people. A second language is something we should acknowledge and something that we should pursue as a nation. We see around the world in Asian countries and in Europe children from a very young age start studying two and three languages to be able to connect with the world.

We have one of the greatest gifts in the world, our multicultural communities in Australia, where a lot of people have a second language through their mother tongue. We under-utilise these languages and the connections that they have with people overseas, with business, with families and with communities, and I think this is an area we need to concentrate on as much as we can. For example, in my electorate, we have many schools that still teach Modern Greek because of the big Greek population in the electorate of Hindmarsh. I'm very proud to be able to say that, as a second-generation Australian, I speak fluent Greek. My children, who are third generation, speak very, very good Greek. Now I hear my grandchildren uttering the odd word of Greek, which brings tears to my eyes because it's that connection to their great-grandfather and great-grandmother which is so important and something that we should cherish here in Australia.

Also, some of our radio stations, SBS and ABC do great work in Australia as well. SBS has the radio language programs of half an hour or an hour of different languages, seven days a week. In the world that we currently live in with the internet and the electronic media that we have, it is so easy for people who are new arrivals to immerse themselves directly in the nation that they come from and miss out entirely on what's taking place here because of the modern-day access to the internet and to everything else. Connecting with the local community is also very important. I'd like to congratulate SBS for promoting news services in mother tongues, everything from Italian, Spanish, French and German to Bangladeshi, Turkish and Greek—you name it, they do it. We have to promote this, ensure we safeguard it and ensure we do get community news out on local radio.

A shining example of an outstanding citizen in my electorate dedicated to mother tongue is Adelaide's Professor Michael Tsianikas, who is the director of Greek language at Flinders University and the Australian Centre for Hellenic Language and Culture. Their program inspires younger generations—third, fourth and fifth generation Greek Australians—to excel and support the Australian Greek community to grow. I'd like to congratulate Professor Michael Tsianikas, Dr Maria Palaktsoglou and Antonis Litinas for their terrific program in Modern Greek at Flinders University.

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