Page 3409 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
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helping to clean up after the terrible attacks on the centre, with local residents of the area turning up with mops and buckets to help clean up or people driving by who stopped to donate money for rebuilding damaged assets.
It is in adversity that Canberra really shines and I am sure that there are many of us who will find a way in the present climate to reach out to Muslims in their local area and to reassure them that they are at home here and can be confident of community support. There have been incidents in Canberra of racial and cultural discrimination and abuse directed towards Muslims and I hope when we see it we challenge it. I applaud local non-Muslim women who have attended outside local gatherings to offer flowers for local people arriving at these gatherings. Such outreach is greatly valued by the community and should be noted in this place.
The enemies of our culture win when we give in to fear and prejudice. We must work actively against any legislative changes which divide people into “us and them”. All Australians must be welcome in our public places and spaces. These are their places too. They have as much right to be in a parliament or a shopping centre as we do. Otherwise we will increase the isolation young people and women feel and we endanger more susceptibility to radicalisation.
One of the very best aspects of our national story is cross-cultural friendships and the willingness of people to reach out to each other. We have always shown, and I am sure will continue to show, such openness to one another. In particular it is especially important, I think, between English and non-English-speaking people in our neighbourhoods. I have invited neighbours for Pancake Tuesday at my house or a child’s birthday party, because these actions demonstrate to people that they are valued.
When my grandfather in the 1950s bought his first house for his young family—and he was a new Australian with limited English—his neighbour was Mr Davies. Mr Davies was aware that my grandfather Giuseppe had an old roof that was in danger of rust. He leaned over the fence one day and said, “Joe, your roof needs painting. We’re going to paint it together.” Mind you, Mr Davies at the time was in his 70s and Nonno said to him, “But I don’t have the money to pay for that now.” He said, “Joe, we’ll paint your roof and you can pay me back later.” So the next weekend Mr Davies turned up at the front door with paint, brushes and a ladder and they painted the roof. This action so moved my grandfather that it is still a part of our family story today. Nonno and Mr Davies remained friends and when he was very ill and elderly he gifted my grandfather his prize possession, his rifle, which I remember him cleaning very often.
You do not have to have a common language. People understand the international language of home-baked things or a cup of tea. It might sound minor but it is not. It can be life changing. So I implore Canberrans to realise you hold so much power in your hands and to value the culturally diverse Australians who live near you. Make the effort to reach out and say “g’day, how are you?” to newer migrants in your ambit or living in your street.
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