Page 3175 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 11 September 1991
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The entertainment ingredient of ethnic broadcasting cannot be ignored also. By ensuring that the newest members of our Canberra family are also furnished with worthwhile entertainment, we help to combat the most frightening feeling of all, namely, loneliness - the loneliness that occurs when it is not possible to chat to a neighbour, or call your family; the loneliness that can only be called the tyranny of distance. Ethnic radio helps to provide that link from the old to the new culture that all migrants have helped to establish in Australia. Ethnic radio seeks to combat this isolation, and our support for this goal will once again show the concern that the Canberra community has for all its members.
The Bureau of Statistics has just completed the largest census exercise ever undertaken in Australian history. The requirement that all residents and visitors to our community complete the forms was made known, thanks to a media campaign. This campaign may have been even more effective if, as well as the conventional media, the bureau also could have targeted parts of the ethnic community through the use of an ethnic radio station.
I hardly need to remind the members here of the benefit of informing the public of their obligation to register to be eligible to vote. An ethnic radio station would allow such community service announcements to be made to a much broader audience and would help to minimise the situation in which some members of our community find themselves. These people are unable to gain access to the services they are entitled to, due to ignorance or language difficulties.
Mr Speaker, ignorance is the greatest danger facing many countries today. Hardly a day goes by without another crisis in the world. Much of this turmoil is due to the ignorance and fear that exist of other cultures. I am sure that I do not need to list these countries here today. We can all think of instances where violence has occurred for no better reason than the colour of a person's skin, or the difference of their beliefs.
Whilst ethnic radio cannot be expected to be the answer, education will help, and the use of multicultural radio is an effective teaching medium. Migrants have added so much to the Australian way of life that a true Australian culture has evolved, but we must not forget where many of the customs we take for granted originated. Multicultural radio will help preserve the many and varied ethnic cultures alive in Australia today.
Ethnic broadcasting is currently being undertaken to a limited degree by 2XX. Currently, 2XX broadcasts in over 30 different languages to cater for the Canberra ethnic community, and they do an excellent job. However, despite having an audience potential in the vicinity of 50,000 listeners, this station only has the resources to allocate 15 hours of air time per week to ethnic broadcasting. I must make the point, however, that this is not a slight
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