Page 130 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 13 February 2008
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instance, to know what a “chook” was when I arrived from England, and what on earth my family were being invited to when invited along to a “barbie”. Language skills contribute to the maintenance of culture and identity, as I have said, and help us make sense of the world around us while fostering diversity and continuing to create a vibrant community.
To encourage further language development and preservation, each year the ACT government, through the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services, provides funding under the ACT multicultural community languages grants program. In 2006-07, a total of $50,000 was divided amongst language schools and community organisations. These grants included $4,400 to the Mon language school, $4,200 to the Canberra Islamic school, $3,000 to the Swedish section of the Scandinavian school and $3,000 to the Tongan language school.
The ACT Ethnic Schools Association, which has 43 member schools with 1,147 students, received $45,000 from this source to continue its work in ensuring that children whose families would like them to further develop their language skills are able to do so. Also in 2007, the Ethnic Schools Association received $120,000 from the ACT department of education and a further $50,000 from the Chief Minister’s cultural grant program.
As we discuss languages today in this place, there is a hive of activity going on in this city and in the suburbs that surround us, as we know. The activity, of course, is the 2008 National Multicultural Festival—our city’s ultimate celebration of cultural and linguistic diversity. As John Hargreaves said when launching the festival, it is an ideal time to demonstrate our city’s celebration of languages and all things multicultural.
Mr Hargreaves gave us an overview of the festival yesterday. The Greek Glendi was held last weekend, and we look forward to the Chinese New Year Festival celebrations in Woolley Street, Dickson. Much of the cultural diversity of our city will continue to be shared in the next few days. Many people across our community have helped to bring this year’s festival to life, including members of our diplomatic corps, with their input into productions, sponsorship of events and advice on cultural issues. I would like to thank them for their involvement in the festival which has helped to make it one of the most successful on record.
On Sunday night, I was fortunate to represent the government in welcoming the Bulgarian dance ensemble, Varna, a troupe which has been in existence for 47 years. However, until now, it has never performed in Australia. They presented a lively and colourful display of their nation’s traditional dances, complemented by a musical trio from Brisbane, Jhiva Voda, which means “life water”. The group sang haunting folk songs in their own language, accompanied by traditional musical instruments. How fortunate are we to experience such things?
Each year, the festival continues to grow in size and to evolve. At the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets Food and Dance Spectacular on 9 February, tens of thousands of people ate their way through food from across the globe at more than 140 stalls representing dozens of cultures and countries. For many, the experience of savouring paella from Spain, or a spicy sausage sandwich from South Africa, was only heightened by the atmosphere of the day. Intermingled in the music, dancing and laughter were the
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