Nickolas Varvaris (Barton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday I had the great pleasure of attending the New South Wales Federation of Community Language Schools annual dinner, representing the Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott. Community Language Schools play a significant role in communities all over Australia. Community languages are so vital to our vibrant, multicultural society, because they reflect the social fabric of this great nation. It also allows for a fostering of greater understanding of different cultures through the exchange of language.

In Australia, more than 300 languages are spoken, and in my electorate of Barton over 40 different languages are spoken at home. As such, many families enrol their children in language schools to ensure they have cultural links to their country of origin whilst building new networks in Australia. In Barton alone, there are options to learn Chinese, Greek, Arabic, Macedonian, Hindi, Bengali, Filipino and Hungarian—just to name a few. The ability to speak two or more languages is a great benefit to Australia and something we should encourage and promote.

The work of community language schools is vital to giving people linguistic diversity, and the ability to do business in other languages. In New South Wales, we have over 50 different community languages being taught in our schools. This is due to the effort and dedication of the New South Wales Federation of Community Language Schools, the hardworking volunteers, parents and community leaders. Their hard work is very much appreciated.