Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I start by acknowledging the work of a member of the Tasmanian Polish community who recently passed away. Alojzy Dziendziel was born in Poland in 1926 and passed away in Hobart on 21 August 2010. A service was held for Alex, as I knew him, in the Santa Teresa church in Moonah on 26 August and I was touched by how many people came to pay their respects to such a remarkable Tasmanian. The Santa Teresa church was overflowing into the car park with people paying their respects. Included among the mourners along with me were the former federal member for Denison, Mr Duncan Kerr SC; Mr Scott Bacon, the state member for Denison; a former state member for Denison, Mr Graeme Sturges; Adriana Taylor, Mayor of Glenorchy and member for Elwick; the ALP state secretary, Mr John Dowling; and Senator-elect Lisa Singh.

In the eulogy given by Professor Jan Pakulski, I gained a deeper insight into Alex’s early history. Alex was born in the Polish Silesia, the mining region in southern Poland, in 1926. Living through the peak of the economic depression and border disputes between the newly formed Poland and Germany, the war upheavals threw him to Italy and then to Egypt. As a teenager he joined the cadets and at 18 he joined the Polish army, where he played a role in liberating Italy. After the liberation he worked in the military hospital, and after the end of the war he was sent to England, where he spent some time in a mine-sweeping unit. Together with hundreds of other Polish soldiers, Alex was stranded in Britain—without a free country to return to. Looking for a new home, Alex volunteered as a contract worker in Australia.

He landed in Tasmania in August 1948, starting work in the Hydro-Electric Commission’s construction camps in Bronte Park, deep in the bush. It was back-breaking work in a very cold climate and harsh conditions, but Alex was determined to make it—to settle in a new country and call Australia home. During his first leave, in 1951, Alex travelled to Western Australia, where he met and fell in love with a Polish girl called Maria. They wed and settled in Tasmania.

For those who knew him, Alex had three great loves: his wife, Maria, a budding Polish community and the Glenorchy community, in the northern suburbs of Hobart. From day one of his arrival in Tasmania, Alex joined the Good Neighbour Council and the Polish Association, and gradually became the leading member of the two communities. Every Christmas he spent hours visiting the ill and lonely people in hospitals and organising charity events for the needy. He was vice-president and then president of the Polish Association, and at the same time worked in the Good Neighbour Council, the Returned and Services League and dozens of other organisations. Alex exerted boundless energy for his community work—always planning and executing his initiatives. He contributed to the welfare committee, the seniors club, the Cultural Diversity Advisory Committee, the Ethnic Communities Council of Tasmania and the Red Cross, to name a few.

Alex served as a justice of the peace for 40 years and had been a member of the RSL for 58 years. Remarkably, at the age of 80, Alex was still a member of 15 committees in Tasmania. In recognition of his service to the community and his tireless work, he was awarded an MBE OAM in 1979. The Polish government decorated him with the Chivalry Cross for his military service. He was also decorated with the Order of Australia, and in 2007 was elected Citizen of the Year, also winning the Pride of Australia Medal. Alex was loved and respected by all his Glenorchy friends, by the Polish community in Tasmania, which he served for over half a century, and by all Tasmanians who experienced his generosity and goodwill.

There have been hundreds of beneficiaries of his work, including those whom he engaged with whilst working for the Polish Association, especially for his favourite seniors club, the RSL, the Good Neighbour Council, the Abbeyfield Society, the Ethnic Communities Council—now the Multicultural Council—the Council on the Ageing, the Tasmanian Pensioners Union, Glenorchy Community Health Forum and many others.

Alex and Maria had no children of their own, but they always insisted that they had the largest family of all: the entire Glenorchy and Polish community. We will all miss his wisdom, energy and, above all, his tireless devotion to helping others. He was a truly remarkable man who worked tirelessly to help migrants settle in Australia and in Tasmania in particular, strengthening and enriching our socially diverse society. Alex’s lifelong work laid the foundations for a more inclusive, vibrant and culturally diverse community in Tasmania.

Alex was also a life member of the Australian Labor Party. He was an active and long-term member of the Glenorchy branch, always volunteering enthusiastically at every election campaign and in branch activities. He was well regarded by everyone in the party and in the Tasmanian community and his legacy will live on in various organisations and initiatives he established.

Thanks to the work of people like Alex, Tasmania is a place where differences of culture and faith are celebrated. Tasmanian life has been enriched by people from around the world who have come to our state to live, work or study. This harmonious coexistence of cultures, languages and faiths would not be possible without the efforts of those working in the community to build relationships.

I have already reflected on the remarkable achievements of one man, Alojzy Dziendziel, but I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge a few other Tasmanians who are committed to fostering a sense of shared identity and purpose in our community. The tragic murder of Zhang ‘Tina’ Yu, a young Chinese student undertaking an accounting degree at the University of Tasmania in 2009, prompted a Tasmanian barrister and a music industry representative to take action to show that Tasmanians embrace and celebrate diversity. Mr Stephen Estcourt QC and Mr Martin Blackwell engaged a group of 10 volunteers to launch the World Party Tasmania event.

The organising committee comprised representatives from local businesses and community organisations as well as individuals from various sections of the community, and they developed a vision. Their aim was for a World Party—a not-for-profit, one-day festival style event aimed at celebrating cultural diversity in Tasmania whilst quietly commemorating the death of Tina. The World Party initiative gathered momentum in a few short months and, after securing six corporate sponsors, the group hosted World Party 2010 on Saturday, 16 October in the Hobart City Hall. I was happy to be in attendance.

World Party was an overwhelming success, with around 6,000 Tasmanians, including a large contingent of overseas students, attending the event between 2 pm and midnight. The Hobart City Hall was lined with food stalls from different sections of the community and the stage was alive with music and dancing from all corners of the world. There were different food stalls dotted amongst the many people who came to sample the tastes and sounds that enrich our community. We were privileged to have an array of back-to-back performances of dance and music from 2 pm through to midnight. The event gave members of our community from all backgrounds and of all ages the opportunity to celebrate and exchange cultures through food, music and dance. Federal and state politicians who supported and attended the event throughout the day were dotted amongst the crowds who poured into the city hall.

The Premier of Tasmania, Mr David Bartlett, praised event organisers for providing ‘a chance for Tasmanians to participate in the fun, energy and creativity that other cultures have to offer’. In a short address at the event, Premier Bartlett spoke of the importance of embracing diversity. He said:

We all have a duty to help build harmony, respect and compassion in our society, as we welcome students, visitors, refugees and immigrants from all around the world.

The overwhelming success of the event was a public demonstration that Tasmanians are proud to be a part of a truly multicultural community. I think plans are already underway for a World Party 2011. I want to put on the record tonight my personal gratitude to the coordinators of World Party and to the volunteers who brought the event together.