Page 3242 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
We are certainly clear that any venue should be available to all members of the community regardless of their background because there is a significant diversity of events in our community. We are also clear that any feasibility study should not be limited just to EPIC as the only potential site. It may turn out to be the most suitable location but I think we should not preclude alternative sites in the Gungahlin region without at least considering their viability in the first place.
Members may recall that the Greens called for a feasibility study for a new multicultural centre in Gungahlin during the 2016 election campaign. That was because we had representations from members of the multicultural community to that effect. We were listening and we engaged actively with the Bangladeshi and Indian communities in Yerrabi particularly in order to come to that view. It was clear at that time that there was a strong desire for a facility in Gungahlin.
I am really mindful in this discussion, as we think about the various communities in Canberra, that those significant immigrant communities that arrived particularly in the era of the 60s and 70s have established clubs in the city. And we can all think of the various clubs: the Italo Australian Club, the Harmonie German Club and various others from that era. But for those communities that have come in greater numbers more recently those opportunities have not arisen and that is why a venue along these lines is particularly important for, I think, the various Indian and Bangladeshi communities and also elements of the Chinese community. I think these are communities that, having come in greater numbers at different times, do not have the opportunities presented to some of those earlier waves of immigration.
We understand and support the need for communities to have places where they can get together, meet, celebrate, support each other, have language classes, all those sorts of things that are very important as part of maintaining cultural linkages. While some of our more established communities have their own premises, as I already touched on, many of the new and emerging communities are left waiting for access to existing facilities or for land to build their own community centres.
The Gungahlin town centre also offers opportunities. The land release program includes many sites in Gungahlin town centre which have a suitable zoning for a multicultural community centre, including one site which is in the community facility zone, and we Greens believe that these sites should also be considered in the feasibility study. The territory plan variation for the Gungahlin town centre refresh, which will include community engagement, is also an opportunity to identify a site for a multicultural centre in the town centre. As I said, the needs of the multicultural community and the future of EPIC are not necessarily mutually exclusive objectives.
I have spoken previously at some length about the need to secure the future of cultural venues including Exhibition Park or EPIC. The venue holds a special place in the cultural heart of our city. It is home to great events like the Lifeline book fair, the Royal Canberra Show, Capital Region Farmers Market and the National Folk Festival. It is a fantastic venue that hosts hundreds of events and draws thousands of Canberrans every year, and its future needs to remain secure. It is too important a community asset to lose.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video