Page 1370 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 3 May 2016
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how good, how competitive and how clever our businesses are. And we will definitely continue to see success and see that success translate into economic activity, into jobs, into revenue and into social, sporting and cultural benefits for Canberra and for our region. That will remain my personal mission and the mission of my government. I present the following paper:
Ministerial Delegation to Singapore and China—April 2016—Ministerial statement, 3 May 2016.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Multicultural communities—funding and support
Ministerial statement
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Minister for Housing, Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Multicultural and Youth Affairs, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (10.31): I would like to begin by thanking Mrs Jones for her motion and for this opportunity to speak about the initiatives, programs and policies the ACT government has in place to recognise, protect, engage and encourage our growing multicultural community.
The ACT government is very proud to promote Canberra as an inclusive and cohesive society. This is because our identity as a city has been proudly and profoundly shaped by each person who makes our city their home.
I am reminded of the stories I grew up with of postwar migration, where more than 100,000 people came to this region from over 30 countries to work on the Snowy Mountains hydro-electric scheme. These individuals and families have helped to shape this region, just as newly arrived migrants continue to shape this region today.
It is amazing to think that Canberra now has residents from nearly 200 countries, with over a quarter of Canberra’s total population born overseas. Each person represents a variety of faiths, cultures, histories and experiences that we see represented every day in friendships and in community life. The social harmony we see is not achieved without action. This government is committed to proactively addressing racism and intolerance to ensure all Canberrans can benefit from an inclusive community. Indeed, we have a strong legacy of proactively supporting a culturally inclusive community.
The first multicultural summit in 2005 provided an opportunity for our cultural communities to have a voice in shaping government policy. This summit was instrumental in the development of the 2006-09 ACT multicultural strategy. Three years on we continued this good work with a new multicultural strategy for 2009-12, again based on the rich input of our cultural communities.
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