The latest poll, published in the Australian newspaper, shows 32 per cent of SA voters intend to direct their first preference votes to SA Best during the March election, compared to the Liberal Party on 29 per cent and Labor on 27 per cent.
While there are debates of ‘Deal or No Deal’ and SA leaders’ debate is dominated by governance talk, Jay Weatherill has pledged a multicultural hub. “A re-elected Labor Government will build a multicultural hub where communities can hold workshops, festivals, training courses, cultural activities & other social gatherings. Huge excitement from community groups about our commitment!” he announced.
The reception for this ‘Big’ announcement, for all multicultural communities leaders and the members of the different cultural and linguistically diverse communities in South Australia was hosted by SAMEAC headed by Hon Grace Portolese with dignitaries like SA’s Premiere Jay Weatherill, and Hon Zoe Bettison Minister of Multicultural Affairs among the many portfolios she handles.
Does it mean in South Australia Multicultural Hub will be a place where people from Adelaide’s many different cultures can meet, work, share and learn in a safe and supportive environment?
Labor MLC candidate, the indian-Malaysian Mr Mahanbir Grewal, the multicultural face of the Labor Party SA, could be an asset to the party in running this hub. With a background of promoting the Labor Party and doing his best in ensuring that there is a Labor presence mainly in the State Electorates of Chaffey and Stuart, Mahanbir could bring back the losing presence of the Labor in regional SA and can change many perceptions.
As we all are aware, the Indian community is growing in South Australia and we reside all over metro-Adelaide. But, South Australia is home to people from more than 200 culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse backgrounds. For these communities, the multicultural hub will embrace the shared values and cultural traditions. It is believed, it will also allow those who choose to call South Australia home the right to practise and share their cultural traditions and languages within the law and free from discrimination even more strongly.
As per the Australian Government’s Living Safe Together profile ‘Almost a quarter of us were born overseas, and four million Australians speak a language other than English.
Australian culture is as broad and diverse as the country’s landscape. Australia is multicultural and multiracial, and this is reflected in the country’s food, lifestyle and cultural practices and experience.
Australia is a society of people from a rich diversity of cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have inhabited Australia for tens of thousands of years. Most Australians are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants who arrived over the last two centuries from more than 200 countries.
In the recent global social and political environment, threats to social cohesion, harmony and security have emerged. The Australian Government is responding to these challenges by encouraging continuing dialogue with a wide range of community groups.
Therefore, supporting Jay Weatherill’s pledge of the Multicultural Hub, Mr Mahanbir Grewal displays positive outcome(s) and believes, in the near future, South Australians will witness so many people come out to celebrate the world with harmony. He further exhibits confidence in SA being the most successful multicultural society, with no comparison to which has such a diverse mix of its population and that is built on mutual respect.
Hoping for a productive and positive outcome, Mahanbir points out that ‘We live it every day: in our cities and suburbs, in our schools and workplaces, on our buses and trains. In all these places, Australians mix with those from different backgrounds. And the multicultural hub will further welcome cultural diversity without any limits.”
With South Australia taking a different path, cultural differences are to be embraced and this bargain could be embodied in the pledge of this ‘Multicultural Hub’.
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