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

Last Sunday, 18 October, I had the great pleasure of being invited to attend the launch on Sunday night of the seventh national Greek Welfare Conference, which was held in Adelaide in South Australia. I was very honoured to have been invited and to have attended.

At the dinner on Sunday night His Grace Bishop Nikandros of Doryleon was there as the South Australian Greek Orthodox Bishop. He was there representing His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, who is the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia. Also, state member Tom Koutsantonis was there representing the Premier. The guest speaker for the night was Monsignor David Cappo, who is the Commissioner for Social Inclusion in South Australia. He spoke to all those in attendance about those who are alienated in our communities and less fortunate and what we can do to help and assist. Also in attendance were Mr John Kiasoglous, the chairman of the Ethnic Schools Board, and Mrs Maria Paltoglou, who is very active, especially in my electorate of Hindmarsh. Mrs Paltoglou is the vice-president of the ladies auxiliary and does a lot of good work—a lot of volunteer work—in my electorate. Also in attendance was Father Patsouris, who is the priest of our local parish of the Greek Orthodox Church at St George in Mile End.

The reason we were all there was to acknowledge the fantastic and dedicated efforts by all those associated with the Greek Welfare Centre. It was great to host the national conference in Adelaide on the weekend, and I believe it is still going on and will finish tomorrow.

The Greek Welfare Centre was established by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia as a means of providing assistance to migrant ethnic groups. It does everything from assisting the homeless to helping those who are less fortunate, and it even offers an interpreting service. They do very important work, especially in times like this when the economy is very difficult for people. That is why the Greek Welfare Centre is very important in assisting disadvantaged people in the community. They also have such services as ‘meals on wheels’, which is a fantastic service offering home delivered meals. I am sure that the member for Parkes, who coaches the group that we formed here in Parliament House for meals on wheels, would agree with me. They do magnificent work and in this case it is really important because a lot of the people in the ethnic communities will perhaps lose their command of the English language as they get older. It is important that they have people making contact with them every day through the home delivery service, which ensures that they are having meals catered for and tailored to their needs. It is therefore a very important service.

They also offer information and referral services for a variety of government and non-government departments and other mainstream departments. They offer the services of community education and health education. They have a strong passion. They have already established a mental health team to do research and to assist those in our community who suffer from mental-related illness and disabilities.

I am also pleased to learn that the Greek Welfare Centre has recently added a youth program focusing on disadvantaged youth within the community. One of my staff has been assisting them along the way. This is a very important service because, as all of us in this place would agree, youth are our future. This was acknowledged on Sunday night in the future visions and aspirations of the Greek Welfare Centre.

So much time and effort and hard work have been put into the Greek Welfare Centre to place it in the position it is in today. But, of course, that future depends on the availability of volunteers, and I would like to acknowledge all of the volunteers who are giving their time to help the Greek Welfare Centre. We all know the benefits and tremendous outcomes of our goals, but it is only due to the assistance of those wonderful volunteers.

The Greek Welfare Centre is a great organisation. It offers many services and will even assist people to adapt into the Australian community. The Greek Welfare Centre should therefore be very proud of the tireless contribution by the many members of the large Greek community who play a role in all of the individual associations involved in the centre.

Once again I would like to congratulate the board of management and all the employees and volunteers of the Greek Welfare Centre. I wish them the very best in their ever-evolving plans for the centre’s direction. Again, I congratulate them for their tireless contribution to the community.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 9 pm, the debate is interrupted.