John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to my neighbour and colleague the member for Parramatta for raising this motion on an event that is very important to our part of Australia and particularly close to my community of Bennelong: International Mother Language Day. I'm immensely proud that I represent one of the most diverse electorates in Australia. Bennelong is a patchwork of international identities, experiences and backgrounds. We have the largest Chinese community of any electorate in the country and substantial populations of Italians, Armenians, Koreans and Indians, to name only a few. They are deeply involved in the Australian way of life and also bring the culture of their ancestral nations to Bennelong. The result is that we have a bright, energetic, dynamic melting pot like nothing else. Rarely a week goes by when there isn't a celebration or event from one of our vibrant communities.

Our mixture of backgrounds means that we're also home to a range of languages. In fact, 22 per cent of Bennelong speaks either Mandarin or Cantonese; 9,000 speak Korean; roughly 3,000 speak Italian; and about the same number speak Arabic. An astonishing 51 per cent of homes in Bennelong speak a language other than English. We are unquestionably one of the most linguistically diverse electorates in the country.

It is fitting that, in the lead-up to International Mother Language Day, we take time to recognise the importance of linguistic diversity and the wonderful benefits it yields. A salient fact of our history is that we have depended on connection to the outside world for our growth and prosperity. Our economy would be vastly smaller and less influential than it is currently if it were not for the waves of immigration and economic reform that opened our economy to the world. But for all our international trade and prosperity we must have fluent, able speakers ready to facilitate business. Our history is replete with examples of immigrants using their language skills and connections to their countries of origin to create international business and trade. If we did not have such an incredible multilingual population, I cannot imagine that we would have prospered in the way that we have.

On an individual level, multilingual ability has immense advantages. A wealth of scientific literature suggests that people who know more than one language have stronger reasoning skills and greater neuroplasticity, which means they are better at processing new information and dealing with abstract thinking tasks. This is even more true of early education in languages. Scientific evidence suggests that acquiring ability in a second language early in life makes it far easier to learn more languages as you grow older. It's also worth noting that there are substantial benefits to your careers. Economists have determined that fluent ability in a second language adds an average benefit to your lifetime earnings of between five and 13.2 per cent. It goes without saying that the private benefits of speaking a second language are tremendous.

But facility with language cannot be achieved without good teachers. There are a great many schools in our electorate which have filled this role, and it's important that we acknowledge their dedication and contribution. Eastwood has played host to the Australian Chinese Community Association Chinese Language School for over 40 years. They have taught both Mandarin and Cantonese to thousands of students and kept alive the traditions of Chinese languages for generations.

In Meadowbank you can find the Italian Bilingual School, which has operated for more than 15 years, led capably by Silvia Onorati and her team. The school has gone from strength to strength in teaching Italian to our community.

Finally, I must acknowledge the Ryde Persian School, which has surpassed its 30th year as a marvellous not-for-profit school run only by volunteers. Mrs Forouza Soltani and her team teach Farsi to kindergarten students and adults and everyone in between.

I think it's admirable that not only do we have so many language schools but they have each served the community for so long. I've often remarked that our diversity is our strength, and we needn't look further than Bennelong to see the truth of this. I wish everyone a happy International Mother Language Day.

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