Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to wish everyone in the electorate of Barton a very happy Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dog. Barton is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse electorates in Australia. It has one of the largest Chinese communities in this country. This is an important time for family and a wonderful time of the year that brings everyone together to celebrate. This is a great time of the year to reflect on our diversity, and we should embrace that diversity.

As part of the local celebrations in my electorate, I attended the Georges River Council celebrations in Hurstville. I also attended the CanRevive Chinese New Year celebrations and the CASS Care Chinese New Year celebrations. CanRevive is an amazing organisation. It provides assistance to Chinese-speaking patients undergoing cancer treatment. In particular, I want to commend the work of the staff and the volunteers. I very much appreciated an invitation to their lunch. CanRevive delivers a valuable service to the community in very difficult times.

I also want to commend CASS Care. I attended an event that they organised with some of the older people in the Chinese community.

I also want to recognise the Greek Festival, which kicked off last week in the area in and around Barton. I want to congratulate the Greek Orthodox community on the 120th anniversary of its establishment. I was very honoured to participate in the 36th annual Greek Festival this week.