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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 3 Hansard (23 October) . . Page.. 4040 ..
MR PRATT
: Track record here, Mr Corbell. Track record. Or maybe it was because he has little or no care for one of his most integral portfolio areas, community affairs? I fear it is for all three reasons that the Chief Minister did not attend an extremely important event, which resulted in critical injuries for the multicultural community of Canberra-critical injuries that still have not been resolved.Let me talk about the departmental officer who was there at the last AGM, Mr Hans Bolshoi. He is an impressive man, and I congratulate the Chief Minister for at least employing a man of this calibre to work behind the scenes. I am aware that that is the case, and Mr Bolshoi is perhaps making more yards doing something about harmony than is the case elsewhere.
This disharmony in the multicultural community cannot be afforded by the community itself and it cannot be afforded by the broader Canberra community. We need to come together as a community, which Canberra has been quite successful at in the past, and this needs to be greatly supported by the government. The broader Canberran community needs an effective and harmonious Multicultural Council.
In these troubled times, with the complexities and the challenges that this country is facing, the Canberra community looks to the Multicultural Council not only for ethnic leaders but also for experienced leaders from whom they can gain guidance and leadership. Individual ethnic groups, which may find themselves under some pressure during these difficult times, must also depend upon a viable and harmonious Multicultural Council.
The ACT Multicultural Council, and the array of ethnic communities that it represents, is not an easy organisation for people to be involved in, lead or manage. Therefore, all of the various organisations that make up and are related to the ACT Multicultural Council must represent a balanced cross-section of people from the variety of ethnic, religious and political groupings that exist in Canberra. To marginalise any of these groups is to cause unnecessary disharmony, and such marginalisation leading to disharmony will result in an ineffective council that does not successfully achieve its aims.
The minister needs at look to these issues, and we do not see much of an example of that happening. Issues such as viability, value and harmony must be addressed for a strong organisation to do its job for the multicultural community of Canberra. Therefore, the community affairs minister needs to speak publicly to the multicultural community, and to the council itself, to encourage the bringing together of all the components of the multicultural community. It needs more support from the minister. Is the government really supporting the multicultural community when it does not even bother to turn up to key multicultural events?
Last night I attended a Multicultural Council meeting, which was aimed at trying to resolve the impasse. I felt really quite sorry for them. Again, I was quite impressed by Mr Bolshoi, who came to the rescue. Mrs Cross over here also undertook a couple of initiatives to try and help dampen things down, which I thought was quite positive. Things did not progress that far last night. If the Chief Minister or a minister or an MLA from the government had turned up to witness what was occurring and provide some
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