Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday I had the great privilege of attending the Keilor Historical Society's book launch of a book Keilor's Anzac Memory. This very important book has come about as a result of the previous federal Labor government's initiative to allocate $125,000 per electorate under the Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program in order to help fund local projects that aim to commemorate the Anzac Centenary. The Keilor Historical Society's book and DVD, I am proud to say, are the first of the overall 10 projects that were allocated funding under this program.

On Saturday I was very pleased to attend the official launch of the book. The Keilor Historical Society received $25,000 to produce this book, as well as the DVD, which was aimed at raising awareness about the names of the individuals on the World War I honour roll in Keilor. The book and the DVD were launched over two consecutive days and both, as I said, are dedicated to the memory of the soldiers and the nurses from our local Keilor community who served on active service overseas in the Great War of 1914-1918. The aim of the book reflects the individual stories and the communities that these individuals came from, set against the backdrop of the rural lifestyle of Australia in the early 20th century. This book and the DVD are a legacy and a permanent record of our local people's history. It is a symbol of the eternal spirit of a community and their participation during what was a most turbulent and difficult time—a nation-building time—in Australia's history.

The society's project, as I said, is one of 10 local projects and I would like to very quickly mention some of the other groups that have received funding under the Anzac Centenary Local Grants program. I would like to say, in advance, that I look forward to participating in the launches of the Australian Chaldean Federation of Victoria, which represents the local Iraqi community in my electorate. They have received $28,500 to produce their own booklet and DVD, which are aimed at promoting the Anzac Centenary among their community. This particular project is very important, because it does pertain to the newest emerging community in my electorate. Thousands of people have settled there from Iraq under the Humanitarian Program and, as part of the overall integration process, it is very important that those communities understand the history of Australia.