Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, 20 September this year, I was honoured to represent the Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services at the 10th Bankstown Children’s Festival. This was no great ask, as I have been attending the children’s festival regularly over the years. It is a highlight of the community calendar in my electorate of Banks and the adjoining electorate of Blaxland. The children’s festival has grown from strength to strength over its 10 years, and the organisers hope that the next stage will see similar festivals in all major areas of Sydney and New South Wales, and perhaps in other states, in the coming decade.

Bankstown represents a diverse culture and the festival celebrates that diversity. There are representatives from many, many backgrounds, including Australia’s original Indigenous inhabitants as well as people from Africa, China, the Cook Islands, Greece, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Macedonia, Nepal, Poland, Spain and Vietnam—to name the largest groups. Many communities representing the diverse national make-up of the electorate contribute to the children’s festival.

The festival received funding this year through the federal government’s Living in Harmony program. This is the government’s key anti-racism program, which aims to address issues of cultural, racial and religious intolerance. It promotes respect, fairness, inclusion and a sense of belonging for all Australians. I would also like to acknowledge the ongoing support of the Bankstown City Council.

The Children’s Festival 2008 Organising Committee, who are all volunteers, have worked hard to make the festival a success, and I congratulate them. In particular I wish to single out Mr Thuat Van Nguyen OAM, the president of the organising committee. Thuat is a remarkable man with a tremendous vision for our local community as well as for the broader Australian community. Thuat doesn’t just talk about it; he does something. Thuat himself embodies what the festival sets out to achieve.

For me the best part of the day is the parade. I very much enjoy watching the children in their national costumes, walking, singing, playing musical instruments and obviously enjoying being part of the celebration. It is also a great pleasure to observe the parents and friends on the sidelines. Their pride in their children’s’ achievements is visible on their faces and palpable in their stature. This diversity is a source of both social and economic wealth to our country, but, importantly, it adds both vibrancy and dynamism to Australian society. It is always a great pleasure for me to attend the children’s festival and I look forward to watching the festival continue and grow.

The thing that I appreciated the most this year was that there was funding through the government’s Living in Harmony program of some $5,000—for an event organised by volunteers. There is a partnership here and we in government need to play our part. We need to provide seed funding to organisations such as this organising days such as these, which are replicated throughout the community, and to other volunteers in our society, who put in countless hours to make our communities more cohesive and to create happiness within our communities. The $5,000 that was provided went a very long way—because if the government were to pay for the thousands of hours of effort throughout the year that went towards making it a successful day, and replicated that funding throughout our community, we would have no budget surplus.

That is why it is an event I certainly enjoy attending. The cultural diversity in the Bankstown community today is not how it always was. In the old days it was a community made up mainly of British, Irish and Anglo descendants. But the community has grown and diversified and has become enriched. It is a harmonious community. The service clubs provide many, many thousands of dollars to local community organisations and to aged-care facilities. There is a partnership approach. I commend the festival to the parliament. It was a great day and is going to be replicated for many years to come. I have enjoyed seeing the festival grow from its inception. This was its 10th anniversary—I am sure it will enjoy many more.

Question agreed to.