David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to speak on this motion about the importance of the Greek language and indeed the broader Greek culture and community. My electorate of Banks has a very substantial Greek-Australian population which is justifiably proud of the remarkable history of Greece and the extraordinary depth of its culture. Of course the Greek culture, dating back thousands of years as it does, has an extraordinary list of achievements in terms of the areas of Western democracy as we know it today, trial by jury and so many other areas. Greek society has pioneered in fields such as mathematics, philosophy, poetry and a number of important forms that we take for granted today like satire, tragedy and a range of other areas. The modern Olympics are, of course, drawn from the ancient Olympics.

In my electorate of Banks, about six per cent of residents have Greek ancestry and about five per cent of residents speak Greek at home. This motion is very relevant to that substantial group in my community. There are parts of my electorate with a larger Greek population. For instance, in the suburb of Blakehurst, according to the ABS, about 13 per cent of people speak Greek at home, and in Connells Point it is about 12 per cent. It is a very proud community in my electorate.

Last week I visited the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW head office in Lakemba and discussed a range of things. One of the interesting aspects of that organisation is that they operate four Greek language schools in my electorate—at Connells Point Public School, Danebank school in Hurstville, Peakhurst Public School and Bald Face Public School in Blakehurst. These are important institutions which provide opportunities for our local families to ensure that their kids grow up being able to speak Greek as fluently as their parents and grandparents are able to.

The Greek Orthodox Community of NSW organisation runs a number of other very important events—for example, the Greek Festival of Sydney, which every year attracts up to 50,000 people. A number of different activities make up the festival. There is a museum presentation going back to the First World War and looking at Lemnos in 1915 and contrasting it with a century later. There is a big celebratory dinner at Brighton-Le-Sands coming up later in March, and various other activities. The Greek Orthodox Community of NSW is an extremely important organisation in our community. In addition to running those important language courses it also runs seniors groups and childcare centres.

I also want to acknowledge the contribution to the local Greek community of the Kogarah Greek Orthodox Church, where Father Konidaris is the parish priest. Parliament has a connection to that church, as my colleague the member for Barton is its parish president. One of the important initiatives of the church has been to run the annual Being Greek Festival, which is held at Carss Park each year. I went along in 2013—I was away last year unfortunately and could not attend—and it was very well hosted by Ada Nicodemou from Home and Away. There were literally tens of thousands of people at Carss Park. It was a really fantastic celebration of Greek culture and of everything that the Greek community contributes to the St George region.

I commend the motion. Maintaining cultural heritage is so important not only in the Greek community but in communities right across our nation. I commend the Greek-Australian community in Banks on everything it does for our area.

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