Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The anniversary of the Victory over Japan Day for Koreans is on 15 August and it is now celebrated as the National Liberation Day of Korea. On the weekend, I was delighted to attend the Korean Cultural Festival in the city of Brisbane. I thank the Korean Society of Queensland and all the many volunteers for organising the event again this year. I particularly thank Gwang Hoon Hyun, the President of the Korean Society of Queensland, and Sang Soo Yoon, from the Consulate-General of the Republic of Korea, who came from Sydney. It was a wonderful day and a fabulous event, as it always is. It is a feast for the cultural senses in so many ways. Obviously, I'm a little bit biased because my electorate office is pretty much in the middle of downtown Seoul, so I'm used to having Korean food for lunch regularly, but there are also wonderful music performances, including Samulnori, a Korean traditional performance, and obviously taekwondo. The day is celebrated in both North Korea and South Korea because that was when the Japanese colonisers were defeated. It's important that all Koreans celebrate this day. It also reflects the fact that the Korean population in Australia is increasing significantly. In the 2011 census, there were 8,000 people with Korean ancestry and in the 2016 census there were 123,000, with a significance increase in my electorate.