Page 567 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
It was terrific to see and hear Canberrans celebrating their shared multicultural identity and speaking in different languages at the Multicultural Festival over the weekend. Each community made a special and valuable contribution to the event, and we are all united in Australian values. I greatly admire the many energetic people in our community, in the city of Canberra, who tirelessly give of themselves to foster a spirit of community and collaboration across language and cultural divides.
While it is a joyous occasion, we should not forget the sacrifices people have made to preserve language as a core pillar of heritage and culture. During the late 1940s and 1950s a number of protests were staged by the people of Bangladesh to defend their language and culture. These demonstrators were fighting to have Bengali, their mother language, recognised as an official language in their homeland.
It was at one of these protests, on 21 February 1952, where student activists were killed by police. Their tragic deaths spurred the movement on, and in 1956 the constitution of Pakistan was amended to include Bengali as an official language. This change was a direct result of the determination of the Bangladeshi people to continually highlight the importance of language to their way of life.
Such was the passion of the Bangladeshi people that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, chose 21 February as International Mother Language Day as a tribute to the movement and people of Bangladesh. I am pleased to say that I have witnessed firsthand this same passion for language, heritage and culture in Canberra’s own multicultural community.
Last year, when I moved my motion on mother languages, I was fortunate to have the active engagement of our local multicultural community. They described how the preservation of their languages was a core element of not only their history but their cultural and personal identity—the identity of their families. I am thankful that I can once again honour their historical influence and contributions to the rich fabric of Canberra here in the Assembly.
The Multicultural Festival is a highlight for many Canberrans. While we celebrate our diversity, it also provides an opportunity for our community to emphasise our shared values. Canberra is the best place to live. We are fortunate to live in the best city in the best country in the world. We are lucky to have people who are so willing to generously share their culture and go to great lengths to form lasting bonds with our community.
The Canberra Liberals believe that this government should do more to recognise the value of and important role that languages play in the lives and identity of Canberrans. We want to see active promotion and support for languages, including at the ACT libraries, and also the support of the commonwealth to construct a monument dedicated to mother languages spoken in Australia. We believe Canberra’s multicultural community is a vibrant and active community, and it should be celebrated not just today but every day.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video