Page 255 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2006
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have got something like 80 or 90 different groups; in fact, if you take them all together, there are about 200 of them; there are quite a few organisations within the same cultural grouping but there are about 80 or 90 different cultural groups—is that we have at least 80 or 90 little parties that go on during the year when they celebrate festivals, feast days, national days and other days of national significance. That is when they put their particular culture on show for us all to enjoy.
I have seen the Deputy Speaker at many of these events. They are the good part of the job. I have seen the Leader of the Opposition at many of those events as well. I am sure we are at one when we say that that is the good part of the job. We had a wonderful time at the turning of the sod at the Tamil senior citizens function on the weekend—to see the joy in the people’s eyes and to see the sense of welcome that we get. You will get some white eyes like me turning up to a Tamil function. Essentially, it is a Hindu function. A Catholic guy turning up at a Hindu function—we do it all the time, and we are welcomed. It is a sense of brotherhood, sisterhood and family. It is wonderful.
We have had these little parties during the year; we might pop over to the embassy or whatever. Then, once a year, we come together and party big time. We celebrate in true and very professional fashion, the diversity and the coming together of all of these pieces of the multicultural jigsaw into the oneness of Canberra. I am particularly pleased.
I have got to share this with you. You know you have made it in politics when somebody bags you on the internet. I got bagged on the internet—I was so pleased—by this clown who was bagging multiculturalism.
Mr Smyth: We can do it some more if you want.
MR HARGREAVES: I know. You guys are better at it. This guy has got the IQ of a carrot. He was bagging multiculturalism and said, “I saw an advertisement in Perth for the National Multicultural Festival. Why on earth would you do that?” Is it not a measure of some of the success of the festival, if in fact the people in Perth know about it?
Mr Pratt was dead right in his speech when he said it is a boost for tourism. We get people from overseas. We get the embassies assisting with the multicultural festival organisers and bringing in overseas people. They do not come by themselves. We get people coming from all of the states in Australia. We get people coming from the regions.
The estimate on the crowd for last Saturday’s food and dance spectacular was 60,000 people. That is the preliminary estimate. The estimate for the same event last year was 50,000 people. We have seen a 20 per cent increase in that one day. I am expecting to see a similar type of increase next Saturday when the harmony parade is on. I know we are all going to stacks of events that day. I know I have to front up to about six of them, plus the parade itself. I am expecting similar crowds again. I do not think we will have any trouble at all in knocking off the 125,000 people that we had last year.
I believe that, in Canberra, when we come together like this, we are showing this sense of family, this sense of brotherhood and sisterhood and oneness of Canberra so beautifully and joyously to the rest of the nation. Every now and again on that horror show called the news you will see racial tension; you will see racial vilification; you will
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