Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening on World Refugee Day to acknowledge some of the great multicultural initiatives taking place in my electorate of Cunningham. The Association of Community Language Schools is a not-for-profit association supporting the teaching, promotion and maintenance of community languages in the Illawarra, south-western Sydney and the southern regions of New South Wales. Recently, I attended the opening of the ACLS Festival of Community Language 2023 art exhibition at Wollongong Art Gallery. The exhibition allowed students to explore their community, language and culture by learning about different cultural elements and considering what aspects of their heritage and language make it unique and interesting. Students chose a subject, either an artefact or an aspect of their heritage language or culture, to represent visually, and the artwork created was absolutely spectacular.

Thank you to all of the great local volunteers and teachers that gave up their time to help ensure their traditional languages continue through generations, including the language schools in my electorate: the Balar Malar Tamil school, Wollongong; the Holy Cross Greek Afternoon School, Wollongong; the South Coast Chinese Language School; the Polish School in Wollongong; the Wollongong Russian Language School; the Macedonian language school in Cringila; the Our Lady of Fatima Portuguese School, Warrawong; the Illawarra Thai School; the Illawarra Arabic Academy; and the Wollongong Pelangi Indonesia School.

Later that day I also attended the 42nd annual June Ball hosted by the Illawarra branch of the Australian-Philippine Association, at the Fraternity Club. This year's ball was celebrating the 125th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine independence, which occurs on 12 June and marks when the Filipino people fought for their freedom and self-determination in 1898. It was a beautiful night to reflect on the incredible journey of the Filipino people and their contributions to society and to appreciate the rich cultural heritage that Filipinos bring to our local community in the Illawarra and around the world. On the night, I was honoured to be able to read a message from our Prime Minister highlighting the vital contributions Filipino Australians have made to the successful, multicultural, multifaith country that we all call home. Congratulations to the APA Illawarra branch volunteers, including president Eddy Grant and secretary Erna De Los Reyes, for another fantastic ball.

Also to mark the anniversary of independence, the state member for Wollongong organised for the Filipino flag to be flown on the community flagpole outside of Wollongong City Council chambers. I was thrilled to join the wider Filipino community on Independence Day to celebrate the flying of the flag before travelling back here to Canberra.

Another local champion, Thit Tieu, who I have spoken about previously here in this place through her work with the Sisters Cancer Support Group, has been busy again. On the weekend she launched the Social Women's Intercultural Friendship Tricycling/Bicycling, or SWIFT, club. The SWIFT club is a new community cycling group with the main aim to enable women of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to access a safe weekly sporting activity for their physical and mental health. The group aims to create an inclusive environment where everybody feels welcome, including newly arrived refugee groups. They work with younger women who have embraced cycling at the Thrills n Skills program by Wollongong Youth Services and the Warrawong Intensive English Centre at Warrawong High School. SWIFT meets at Port Kembla Sailing Club every Saturday morning to go for a ride and share a meal. Cycle enthusiasts of all levels are welcome, and there will be tricycles, bicycles and helmets available to use on the day for registered club members.

I would like to thank all of the volunteer organisers: Darinka Radinovic, Claudia Hodge, Dr Farhannah Aly, Bronwyn Wood and Thit Tieu. Thanks also to the community sponsors making the program possible: the Illawarra Yacht Club, the New South Wales Office of Sport, Fornix Wheels, Port Kembla Sailing Club, B's Bike Worx, Blueprint Digital, the Multicultural Health Communication Service and Wollongong City Council. The program is supported by the Disability Trust, the Illawarra Cycle Club and the Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra. I am so proud to represent a diverse, vibrant and welcoming community like the Illawarra. These community initiatives, run by dedicated and passionate volunteers, do an amazing job at cultivating our rich heritage and creating a culture that we can all be proud of.