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

I would like to thank Mr Laxale for his contribution and for moving this particular motion. I would also like to mention the member for Riverina as well for his contribution on the World Hellenic Inter-parliamentary Association. He has attended a few of our conferences and contributed greatly. It shows that here in Australia all you have to do is scratch the surface of someone's background and you find that they have come from somewhere.

In Adelaide, just like the whole of Australia, if someone struggles with the idea of multiculturalism, they are missing out on a fundamental part of understanding over half of our nation. It is important to acknowledge, aside from Indigenous Australians who rightfully claim this land and were the first inhabitants, nearly all of my constituency have a migrant history, whether it be from Irish stock a couple of hundred years ago or from Britain right through to the big influx of migrants that came from Greece, Italy, Europe after World War II, right through to today, with people from the Middle East, India, China and other countries. With over half of our residents proudly bearing multicultural roots, this recognition underscores the importance of respecting the fact that we are guests on this land as well of the Indigenous people. If each person in this room traced their family tree, they would find roots from abroad.

Recently, over 8,600 individuals in my electorate celebrated the year of the Dragon. I had the privilege of joining the vibrant communities in Gouger Street this year with many from the Asian communities who celebrated Chinese New Year. What made it truly exceptional was the diverse crowd, not just Chinese, Vietnamese or Koreans but everyone from every background you could think of. I would also like to acknowledge the member for Sturt, who was present on the night. This inclusivity speaks volumes about the universal appeal of this tradition embraced by the entire community in my electorate of Adelaide.

Easter is around the corner, and more than 10,000 people in Adelaide will be celebrating at a different time, or even twice if they have a culturally mixed family and friends. We have to appreciate the good things that migration brings. It has made our country, our culture and our economy better. Speaking for myself, I absolutely love being involved in the traditions from all cultures, learning where people come from and how they got here. What I really love is the fact that my grandkids go to school with a bunch of friends from different backgrounds, different ethnicities. My grandkids, who are fourth generation, are learning their ancestral language from their great-grandfather, who is Greek. They get to learn and celebrate a multicultural Australia without having to hide where they come from, like people in my generation had to when we were kids. I also want to take a moment to appreciate those wonderful teachers who put in the effort to say each child's name just right and correctly, without changing their names—as our names were changed when we first went to school. If it's something you haven't heard before, it's those little things that really make a big difference in recognising where we all come from.

It's appalling that our immigration system was neglected under the previous government. In my office, we felt the fallout. We were dealing with hundreds of people regularly asking about their visas and explaining how their loved ones were still in danger. We advocated strongly for each person walking through our doors. Clearing the visa backlog of nearly one million people, left behind by the former government, hasn't been easy—

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