Matt Williams (Hindmarsh, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Sunday I attended the inaugural Cyprus Community Festival held in my electorate. It was a wonderful celebration of Cypriot culture—fine dancing, food and an exhibition on the people and history of Cyprus. I want to congratulation the President of Cyprus Community, Christos Ioannou, the secretary, Minas Loucas, and their team of volunteers on a wonderful festival.

Since being elected I have been warmly welcomed by the Cypriot community, and Sunday afternoon was no exception. My family, who also attended, recognised a number of friendly faces and especially enjoyed the traditional dancing. It was pleasing to see the involvement of one of the soccer clubs in my electorate, the Adelaide Cobras, at the festival. I have visited the club a number of times, attending their games and club events. The federal government has also provided funding to improve their oval in Plympton.

I want to thank the organisers for allowing me to join to celebrate and to share the traditional Cypriot culture. As co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Cyprus, the festival was of particular interest to me. In my role, I have met with the Cypriot High Commissioner to Australia on a number of occasions in Canberra to discuss what the Australian government is doing in Cyprus. As a good friend of Cyprus, Australia has supported and continues to support the UN-mediated efforts to reunify Cyprus. Since the establishment of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus in 1964, Australia has deployed a contingent of police to carry out important peacekeeping and humanitarian work across the buffer zone which divides the island. Over 1,000 Australian police officers have served, and it will continue from the federal budget to extend the AFP deployment for a further two years, until 2017. (Time expired)