Al Salam Festival

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:35): My question is directed to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. How is the state government working with the Islamic community to increase cross-cultural understanding?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:35): I thank the member for the question. The Islamic Society of South Australia hosted the inaugural Al Salam Festival, known as the Peace Festival, on 26 April 2015. With about 20,000 South Australians identifying as Muslim, the Peace Festival provided an opportunity for South Australians from all walks of life to gain a deeper understanding of Islam.

It was my absolute pleasure to attend this event and engage with community leaders, as I am sure it was for the members opposite who also attended, and I would like to point out that we had tremendous bipartisan support there. The member for Elder, the member for Torrens, the member for Unley, the member for Hartley, the shadow parliamentary secretary from the other place, and Greens MPs also attended. Mr Speaker, I believe you were also at the event for some time.

About 3,000 people attended over the course of the day. The festival featured 14 international food stalls, show rides, and an Al Salam Tour, which aimed to improve public dialogue about the Islamic faith in the community. The South Australian Islamic community is not a homogenous group; instead it comprises a multitude of cultures and nationalities. As a government we are committed to creating an inclusive and cohesive community, where cultural and religious diversity is welcomed, understood and supported. That is why we committed $10,000 towards the delivery of the inaugural Peace Festival.

South Australians are a culturally and religiously diverse lot, and this diversity plays an important role in the way we see ourselves. Many people choose to become South Australians because they want to be part of our peaceful and cohesive community, they want to share our sense of wellbeing and inclusiveness, and have the right to practice their religion and culture without hindrance or persecution. Indeed, we are blessed to live in a place where this is almost taken for granted when there are so many places across the world where this is just a dream.

Peace and tolerance matter to everyday South Australians. We all share a sense of great pride that our forebears insisted on creating a state where religious freedom was enshrined from the early days. Of course, these rights and freedoms are supported by our vigorous democracy and the state government's progressive multicultural processes and policies.

The inaugural Peace Festival was a great success. It was successful because it provided an opportunity for all South Australians to gain an increased cultural understanding of our diverse Muslim community. However, I will mention that we did release some doves and, while a beautiful act, I am not that fond of holding birdlife ready to be released—maybe something the member for Unley and I share.

I look forward to engaging in future events with representatives from our Muslim communities, and I congratulate the Islamic Society of South Australia on its success. I thank the many volunteers who dedicated their time and commitment to making this first Peace Festival come to fruition and be very successful.

The SPEAKER: I was with Rob Kerin once on Glenelg Jetty when he held a dove.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: John Kiosoglous did an excellent job of replacing that dove.