ST DIMITRIOS PARISH FESTIVAL

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:20): I would like to speak today on the St Dimitrios Parish Festival, which I attended on Sunday 31 October. I had the pleasure of being with His Grace Bishop Nikandros of Doryleon and the Consul-General of Greece in South Australia, Mr Christos Maniakis-Grivas, local federal members, the Mayor of Salisbury, the good Mrs Gillian Aldridge, and other leaders of the Greek community of South Australia.

I believe that Greek South Australians have excelled in both nurturing Hellenic culture and building up Australia's renowned ethos of multiculturalism, particularly those who hail from the one true Macedonia. The Labor government has been pleased to be able to support the St Dimitrios community centre and its activities financially over a number of years, including grants towards the cost of the local Greek festival and dancing costumes.

This local parish festival, like the broader (more than month long) calendar of Dimitria Festival events, does a terrific job of bringing the Greek community together and opening up Greek culture to the broader population of our state. For those who are unable to attend the original Dimitria, which recommenced in the 1960s in Thessaloniki in northern Greece, every year our local festival is an excellent way of keeping in touch with the customs and traditions of Macedonia. This tradition is now 32 years old in Adelaide.

The first Adelaide Dimitria was held in October 1979, with the organising committee becoming the Pan Macedonian Federation of South Australia in 1983. The government knows that retaining the links to Greece and Macedonia is vitally important, because for thousands of years it has been part of the history and identity of the people of northern Greece.

Each year, this festival provides an opportunity to give thanks to Agios Dimitrios, or St Dimitrios, who, as the patron of soldiers, inspires strength, courage and bravery in the face of adversity. Today we can say that he inspires strength of character and conviction. This can be seen in the strong determination of all Greeks in South Australia to recognise and promote all that is good about Greek culture, history, cuisine and tradition in Australia. This strength has, for decades, helped make our state an exciting, progressive and fascinatingly multicultural place.

I am proud to be associated with this dynamic parish, which has become a cultural hub for Greeks and others in the northern suburbs. I would like to congratulate Father Chris, the more than 50 volunteers who helped on the day and the rest of the parish on its achievements over the years, and especially on organising yet another great feast day in honour of St Dimitrios. Efharisto.