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

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a very important event in my electorate. The Victorian Assyrian community yesterday opened their new premises on Sharps Road, Tullamarine, in my electorate. The new place of assembly for the Assyrian community has been named the Bet Urmia and it is the finalisation of a two-year project which has cost $250,000, of which $50,000 was a grant from the state government.

The Assyrian community are very proud of the opening of their new premises. The objective of this place of assembly is to provide a space for Assyrians to come together to engage in recreational and learning activities, to provide Assyrian language classes and English language classes, to provide lessons in their very prized Assyrian history and also to provide opportunities for young men and women from the Assyrian community to meet and to obtain a greater understanding of their cultural and linguistic inheritance.

I have a large number of members of the Assyrian community in my electorate. I know how important this house is to them. I would like to thank President George Daniel for the amount of work he has done in bringing this project to fruition. After 32 years of the Victorian Assyrian commission, this is indeed a great opportunity for the community.