Page 251 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2006
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Theo Notaras, for example, the man after whom the recently opened Multicultural Centre is named, established Canberra’s first sit-down cafe, the Capitol cafe. A man of enterprise, Theo also opened the first bookstore, hair dressing salon and souvenir shop. Our well-known migrant Mr Gus Petersilka opened Gus’s cafe in Civic, which remains today as one of Canberra’s most popular casual eateries. Gus brought alfresco dining to the capital. While he fought many battles in his business life, he was recognised in 1978, being voted Canberran of the year.
Canberra’s history is richly infused with contributions by members from our culturally and linguistically diverse population. The 2003 publication A social and demographic profile of multicultural Canberra documents that the total number of people who were born overseas, or who had a parent born overseas, was 44.7 percent of the total Canberra population. That is nearly one in two Canberrans. This total overseas influence comprises nearly a fifth of all children living in Canberra, nearly a quarter of all young adults, over a third of mature adults, and one in 10 of older Canberrans.
Canberra receives about 1,200 new settlers a year from a wide variety of countries, with the largest numbers from New Zealand, China, the UK and India. Over a quarter of the overseas born people working in Canberra are employed in public administration and defence, with the next largest employment numbers in property, business, education, accommodation and cafes. Canberra is now home to people from over 200 different countries. Our diversity and harmony would be hard to match anywhere. Australia is one of the most multicultural nations in the world, and Canberra one of its most multicultural cities. Canberrans with diverse cultural and linguistic heritage maintain and celebrate their culture of course and, at the same time, are very much part of our community life and embrace the Australian way of life.
The Stanhope government is proud to represent such a diverse, inclusive and harmonious community. Multiculturalism is an inclusive concept that celebrates and encourages diversity. I am fortunate to have attended and officiated at many multicultural events and celebrations since I have been in this place. However, we should not remain complacent because there are threats to multiculturalism, as evidenced by tensions we are currently witnessing not just internationally but closer to home. Racially motivated acts of violence and terror on any scale need not lead us into a culture of fear, suspicion and hatred, although some would encourage us to do so. It defies logic to blame the crimes of individuals on his or her culture or religion. We must not fall into the trap of sanctioning discrimination against any ethnic, cultural or religious group, including refugees.
By accommodating this intolerance against any grouping of people, we open the door to discrimination against all people within our community, which is one of the many reasons why in 2004 the ACT government launched the Canberra social plan which established priorities to guide our decision-making over the next 10 to 15 years. It includes the priorities of respect, diversity and human rights, with the goal of respecting diversity by protecting each other’s rights—this is essential if all Canberrans are to have the opportunity to reach their full potential; fostering a culture of respect and inclusion to help overcome barriers to participation; and celebrating diversity to allow us to draw on the wealth of different experience that we have here and to add to our knowledge and understanding of the world. The key objective of the Canberra social plan is community
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