Page 681 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 11 February 2009
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wanted to acknowledge the presence of Mr Doszpot and Mr Coe, who I saw sweating profusely at various spots—as indeed I was myself. I would like to put on the record that I acknowledge their presence.
This suggests that there is a widespread appreciation of cultural and linguistic diversity in our community. The ACT government is dedicated to promoting this throughout the community. The multicultural strategy has proven to be a solid mechanism for this over the years. I am sure that the 2009-12 multicultural strategy will steer cultural and linguistic affairs over the coming years.
It is with pride that I mention that the invaluable community consultation at the 2008 multicultural summit formed the basis of the language policy section of the draft ACT multicultural strategy 2009-12, which is currently out for further community consultation until 20 March. The ACT government’s commitment to the teaching of a second language is reflected in the draft multicultural strategy, as I have just mentioned. It is our commitment reflected there.
I would like to emphasise this commitment today. The ACT government considers language education to be an essential part of preparing students for life in the 21st century. The ACT maintains that all children in the ACT have access to quality language programs to enable them to further develop the language skills they bring to school from their homes. Accordingly, the ACT government will continue to strongly support the learning of other languages through mainstream and ethnic schools.
I could speak for many more minutes, given an opportunity, but I would like to make a final point—and I think I can speak on behalf of the Assembly here, not just the government. We are about preserving the language of the family, the language of the kitchen, while ensuring proficiency in the language of commerce and international competition. I urge members to support the motion.
MR DOSZPOT (Brindabella) (5.33): Madam Assistant Speaker, with your indulgence and in the spirit of United Nations International Mother Language Day, I would like to speak to Ms Porter’s motion partly in my mother language. A magyar nyelv Magyarorszag hivatalos nyelve es az Europai Unio hivatalos nyelveinek egyike. Ezenkivul a magyar az egyik hivatalos nyelv a Vajdasagban, valamint Szlovenia harom kozsegeben—Dobronak, Orihodos es Lendva. A magyar nyelvet a vilag nyelveinek soraban a 62. helyre teszik az anyanyelvi beszelok szama szerint. Europaban a 14. legnagyobb nyelv.
For those of you who cannot speak Hungarian, what I spoke about was: basically, the Hungarian language is the official language of Hungary and one of the official languages of the European Union. It has long been of great interest to linguists as one of the small number of modern European languages that do not belong to the Indo-European language family.
On a serious note, I do welcome the opportunity to speak to Ms Porter’s motion today. The opposition shares the government’s recognition of the importance of United Nations International Mother Language Day, as, hopefully, my opening statement about Hungarian language indicates. We cannot underestimate the significance of preserving our linguistic heritage and diversity.
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