Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I am delighted to rise on this occasion and support the motion by my friend the member for Chifley recognising 70 years since we had the first Philippines diplomatic office in Australia. I acknowledge the ambassador, Her Excellency the Consul-General and her entourage. I think it is a sign of the esteem in which you were held that, even in the hectic time of parliament towards the end of the session, we all wanted to be here in order to convey these sentiments.

Following on from my friend the member for Werriwa's comments, Anne Jalando-on Louis, your predecessor, I said on many occasions, must have been the hardest working diplomat in the corps. It is certainly no reflection on anyone else, but it is certainly a standard which sets the Philippines embassy and consulates apart. For that, we all thank you.

As the member for Chifley would have said, we are so proud in the Blacktown local government area to be home to what I believe is still about 70 per cent of all Filipinos in Australia—and they have made their mark. They have made their mark in academia and small business. I particularly want to note how much they have made their mark in the community through volunteerism in a range of sectors, everything from seniors to Lions clubs to established Rotary groups. Without fail, you can go to any one of these clubs in our local areas and it will be run or held together by someone of Filipino descent. We have a very rich history of Filipino Australians, and it is one that we celebrate, as not only as a multicultural country but as a country that places immense value on what the Filipino community has brought to us.

I want to touch on something that I have been thinking about in the context of Australia's relationship with a number of other countries in our region, including Fiji and India. In Australia, in this parliament and in our media, we need not just to focus on the relationships when times are tough. Too often, I believe, we see the Philippines, for example, on the news at difficult times—during Typhoon Yolanda, for example, and I acknowledge that Australians have been very generous when it comes to natural disasters in the Philippines. But I must say that, in my opinion, there has been scant and, indeed, disproportionate coverage given to other events that are going on at the moment in the Philippines. I will not spell them all out as I think we all know what they are, but that is the kind of news that needs to feature, front and centre. We should not have to use a search engine to find out the current state of events happening in the Philippines, particularly where those involve terrorism. They should be front and centre. Australia is part of the Asia-Pacific region and we should be pushing to ensure that our dialogue recognises that. I look forward not only to the next 70 years but certainly to an enduring relationship between our two great nations.

I will never forget one of the orations that the outgoing consul general gave at one of the Philippine Independence Day events. She talked about how her father was a man of great integrity and principle in the Philippines at a time when it was dangerous to be so. I think we should acknowledge that there are many people of Filipino descent in our communities who stood up for things that they believed in and stood up for what was right. When we talk about Australian values, those are the kinds of values that I think we should hold dear.

So I honour your presence here today, Your Excellencies. I thank the member for Chifley and those on the other side, who have spoken so eloquently in this. It demonstrates the cross-party support for our relationship. This entire parliament celebrates this anniversary. Mabuhay! I am not as good as the member for Chifley, who can speak much more Tagalog than I can, but long live the Philippines. Long live the Australian-Filipino relationship.

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