Grievance Debate

St George's Day

Mr KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (15:05): Again, I am very pleased to rise in this house to talk about my local community. Of course, a very important event that occurred in my electorate just a few weeks ago that the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Industry and Skills were both present at was the celebration of St George's Day at Rose Street, Mile End. Thousands of people flocked to Thebarton to partake in what was a wonderful celebration of community and, most importantly, a celebration of their faith.

I was pleased that the minister would attend on his birthday and make remarks to the crowd. He was very generous with his time, as was the Leader of the Opposition. Most importantly, we were blessed that day to have present with us representatives of the Presidential Guard from the Hellenic Republic. This was the second year that those young men had visited South Australia; the first two years were funded by the state Labor government.

It was the first time that an Australian war memorial had allowed a foreign nation to stand guard over its memorials which was a very moving moment for not only the Australian Army but of course for the Greek community here in South Australia. There is a very long connection between Greek Australians and Australians, not only through migration but, importantly, through our roles in both major world wars and Korea.

During World War I, before the Gallipoli landing, Australians staged on the island of Lemnos. To this day, you can go to Lemnos and see where the Australians staged before the famous Gallipoli landing. The Greek community there keep that site with reverence. Indeed, some of the largest commonwealth war graves anywhere in the world are in the Hellenic Republic, and they are cared for quite deeply by locals and often maintained by the local communities.

Then of course there is Crete. In 1941, when the Axis powers parachuted into Crete a lot of Australian soldiers were stranded on that island. They were hidden by partisans, and of course by ordinary families on that island, who often suffered greatly at the hands of the occupiers because they were hiding allied soldiers. That connection runs very, very deep and has lasted through until today.

I was very impressed to see laying wreaths at the war memorial representatives of our armed services, our police force, the Governor and the Chief Justice. The Premier laid a wreath, as did I with my daughter. It was a very moving occasion. Importantly, in the crowd were representatives of members of the South Australian community whose family members had died or served in Crete and who came along to pay their respects to the Hellenic Guard.

The Hellenic Guard are called Evzones, an elite group of young men who serve the President of the Hellenic Republic. It is their task to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They very rarely leave the Hellenic Republic. When they do, they do so for official occasions. They have come out twice to Australia for St. George's Day, and St George is the patron saint of the Hellenic Republic. Indeed, they have also been out to celebrate Greek Independence Day, which is celebrated by many Greek Australians here in Adelaide.

Those celebrations cannot occur without the hard work and dedication of volunteers. I want to pay tribute to the Foundation for Hellenic Studies for their work, headed up by Mr Greg Crafter, Mr Harry Patsouris and all the volunteers. Indeed, I want to thank the Very Reverend Father Patsouris OAM, the parish priest of St George. He and his volunteers, ably assisted by my two staff who are on the volunteer committee, were able to feed and help run a festival that over 5,000 people attended.

That event was, I think, one of the largest events outside Glendi in terms of ethnic festivals in the Greek community, and it was a huge success. The volunteers make it special. The volunteers turn up. They put all their time and their own money into making the food, supplying drinks and alcohol, making delicacies—Greek sweets. All the money they raise does not go into the pockets of a business; it goes back into the local community to pay for the maintenance of our culture, our identity and our language.