Page 3060 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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place where we have second-class citizens. I want Canberra to be a place where everyone has access to the services that they need. That includes older people who have contributed so much to the city in the course of their lives. They feel disappointed that now they are being treated like second-class citizens in their old age.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for Community Services and Facilities, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Transport and City Services) (5.42): I am very pleased to speak on the Community Services Directorate part of the budget, specifically in relation to multicultural affairs. The ACT government is committed to maintaining our great standing as a welcoming and inclusive city for people from a range of different backgrounds and experiences, and all walks of life. We want to ensure that people are supported on arrival to the ACT and can settle into our city, enjoying an environment where people are proud to highlight and celebrate their cultural diversity.
We are also very proud of Canberrans and their involvement with their local communities and we are committed to supporting them to safely and meaningfully engage and contribute to community groups, volunteer organisations and events. The biggest of these events, of course, is the National Multicultural Festival. The government has made a clear statement of support for the festival. We are building on our initial investment in last year’s budget review, which is reflected in the budget and highlights a total of $2.621 million worth of further investment to enhance the festival over five years.
This increased investment in the festival will provide additional resources, allowing for the year-round planning necessary to sustain a festival of this size as a key community celebration and flagship event for our city. It will also help to support our engagement with the nearly 250 multicultural and community groups that participate each year.
The government listens to our community. The increased investment in the National Multicultural Festival has been supported by the multicultural community and has been motivated by community feedback and by last year’s independent review of the festival. It will allow the government to continue to provide a safe, family-friendly event for the more than 200,000 visitors who attend the festival weekend each year and ensure that it remains a vibrant, community-focused event that celebrates Canberra’s cultural diversity and strengthens social cohesion.
This year the government will also continue to implement a number of other key programs designed to make our city a more welcoming and inclusive place for new arrivals. We are commencing the implementation of the second action plan for the ACT multicultural framework, which was developed in consultation with the multicultural community, the Multicultural Advisory Council, and particularly through the very successful multicultural summit held late last year.
The action plan outlines the intention for Canberra to benchmark its programs and policies against the Welcoming Cities standard, allowing us to identify areas for improvement to help us strengthen our support for people settling in the ACT and the broader community.
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