Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. This weekend past, you and I had the very great privilege of being able to attend the opening of Somali House, a brand new headquarters in Acacia Ridge, having moved from its previous location in Inala, where I know you have been a great supporter for many years. What I said on that day and what I say again today is that I apologise but the loss of Somali House from Inala is absolutely a gain for Acacia Ridge. Notwithstanding that, Somali House houses such an important community organisation for both our southside communities.

I want to pay tribute to the President of the Somali Community Association, Aweys Hassen, and the President of the Queensland African Communities Council, Faysel, for all their work in ensuring that this continues to be a community hub for learning, that it continues to be a community hub for connection and empowerment, that it continues to be a space for sharing culture, community programs, youth activities and support services. We know that the SCAQ courses and workshops include accounting for local businesses, Australian business structures, tax and compliance. We know that they work on English language classes, and we know that they hold important cultural events and sporting events such as junior soccer and the much anticipated annual Ramadan Cup. They promote cultural identity and belonging.

When I was in attendance at the event, I got to try a few really special things. Firstly, I got to try bun, a type of traditional coffee which I am reliably informed is best served with popcorn. I got to learn about traditional Somali houses and how they're built, and I got to go inside a traditional house myself. Most importantly, I got to see and look at a very large community space that's on that site in Acacia Ridge. Can I say, when I spoke to the volunteers and to the leaders at Somali House, they said what they were most excited about, what they were really pumped about, was inviting members from across our southside community into that space to enjoy, to share, to celebrate and to dance.

The member for Hinkler talked earlier in his adjournment speech about patriotism. Can I tell you, on that day and on every day, those leaders, our community and the volunteers involved at Somali House and so many other community organisations showed great patriotism. They're proud to be Australian. They were proud of their heritage. They were proud of our community, and they wanted to share that with everyone.

Recently, I've been incredibly fortunate to attend citizenship ceremonies across the southside held by some of Moreton's wonderful community organisations who also show that same commitment to our communities and to our nation. Universal Education and Multicultural Exchange Association in Sunnybank, Rotary Archerfield, Macgregor Lions, the Indian Council of Australia and many more in places like Yeronga with the local Lions honoured our newest Australians, welcoming them to our country and celebrating the community that brings them together. We've heard about many, many different journeys to Australian citizenship, and our communities are stronger, more vibrant and more connected because of those new Australians. We see this every single day in Moreton with cultural and faith celebrations. Recently there was a celebration of India's Republic Day. We have Lunar New Year coming up very shortly. All of them play an incredibly vital role in bringing people together and fostering cohesion.

Somali House is unique, but it's not alone, because so many different community organisations come together from across the south side to build something bigger than the sum of its parts—to build our community. I congratulate the community leaders who made Somali House happen, and I welcome them to Acacia Ridge.

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