Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, 22 June I attended the unveiling of the wall of appreciation at the Filipino Community Centre in Brahma Lodge, just outside the Makin electorate. Also in attendance were the Honorary Consul-General of the Philippines, Mr Reynaldo Dante Galura Juanta, who also performed the official unveiling, and local councillor and longtime friend, Betty Gill. The centre is run by the Bayanihan sa Bahay Kubo Foundation, a non-profit organisation which was founded to establish the first Filipino community centre in South Australia. The community centre serves the Filipino community as a venue for activities, provides a one-stop shop for information services and supports the delivery of volunteer services. With many of the Filipino people who have settled in South Australian living in the north-eastern and northern suburbs of Adelaide, the new community centre will be an important and invaluable resource for them.

Over the years I have had a longstanding and close association with the Filipino community in Adelaide and have participated in many of their events, with one of my most honoured occasions being when I was asked to be the bride's sponsor at a Filipino wedding ceremony. Today there are over 170,000 people in Australia who were born in the Philippines and over 220,000 of Filipino ancestry, with most arriving after 1975. Most came to Australia either as skilled workers or as the spouses of Australian citizens. Of those, around 11,000 live in South Australia.

Australia has a strong relationship with the Philippines and is the 17th largest trading partner of the Philippines. The total trade between Australia and the Philippines is valued at US$1.47 billion. Australia exports considerable amounts of wheat, copper and meat to the Philippines. Whilst trade between the two countries is important, we also share a strong social connection. In recent years there has been strong growth in Australian tourism to the Philippines, with around 170,000 Australians visiting the Philippines in 2011. Australians are ranked sixth for tourist arrivals in the Philippines.

As with many other new settlers in Australia, the Filipino people have made a strong contribution to our nation. Hardworking and resourceful, their labour force participation rate of 77 per cent is well above the national average of around 65 per cent. Today Australians with Filipino heritage can be found across a range of professions, including accountancy, software programming, nursing, engineering, mining, construction work, welding, mechanics and performance, with singer Kate Ceberano and golfer Jason Day two of the better known.

I commend chairperson Rudy Bautista and his board of directors for their initiative in establishing the Filipino Community Centre. I thank them for what they do to assist each other and I thank them for the friendship and the warm hospitality they have always extended to me.