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

Yesterday I attended the Filipino Fiesta 2022 at Carisbrooke Park in Salisbury. It was a day of celebration of Filipino culture, music and food. We were also presented with Miss Filipina fiesta queens, all dressed immaculately in their beautiful dresses.

The latest census shows that there are about 409,000 people across Australia with Filipino ancestry, 21,000 of whom live in in South Australia. With over 300,000 of them having been born in the Philippines, they are now the fifth-largest overseas-born sector in Australia, with most Filipino people in Australia having come in the last 50 years. They have done a lot for the development of our country and the prosperity we enjoy here in Australia. Filipino people contribute to Australia through the arts, entertainment, sports, business, the skilled trades and, in particular, working in the personal care services.

I congratulate the organising committee, led by Letty de la Cerna, and I thank her and her team for sharing their culture with the broader Australian community. I particularly thank the Filipino community in Salisbury and across Australia for their contribution to our nation's prosperity and to the development of our country.