Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There has been commentary in recent days about the pronunciation of names, countries and locations as part of SBS's brilliant coverage of this year's FIFA World Cup. I grew up watching the World Cup on SBS with the dulcet tones of Les Murray, who set the important legacy of ensuring that Australian audiences, no matter their background, would hear the names of players and countries said correctly. As an Irish Australian growing up in what was at that time a very white community, these were not names and pronunciations I was used to. Here in Australia, as in many other Anglo-speaking countries, we pronounce my name as 'key-oh'. I, like many other families who have moved to Australia over the centuries, have had my name badly mispronounced. In fact, the Irish pronunciation is actually 'keogh'. I know Lucy Zelic and Craig 'Foz' Foster—my apologies for my mispronunciation—addressed this issue head-on yesterday. I want to congratulate them for that. My community is becoming more and more ethnically diverse and it is through this increasing diversity that our community and our nation become stronger and more prosperous economically, socially and culturally. SBS's World Cup coverage helps us to all better engage and understand our communities.

I extend my best wishes and support to the Socceroos as they take on Peru tonight. I think I speak for us all when I say that we would like to see Tim Cahill take to the pitch during the game as well. May you continue to go far in the tournament, just as the Matildas have done in theirs. We hope for a win. We also hope for a French win. Good luck.