Australia-Philippines Relationship

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Frome) (16:02): Today, I would like to talk about the upcoming 75^th anniversary of the relationship between Australia and the Philippines. I would normally place this on the Notice Paper, but there are 198 notices of motion on that Notice Paper and we will never ever in the life of this parliament get to them.

As members are aware, the Philippines was originally under the control of Spain, the US and, briefly, Japan. The United States finally ceded control of the Philippines in October 1946, which as we know was 75 years ago. We also know that the Filipino people are very considerate and very dedicated. I have been over there a few times as the president of the Rotary Club of Port Pirie. They are so compassionate and considerate of other people. They would give you the last piece of food in their house and go without themselves.

The first Filipino Consul-General was the formal appointment of Roberto Regala in Sydney before they gained embassy status in 1956. They then permanently relocated to Canberra in 1962. The reason for my bringing this to the house today is because of the connection that Port Pirie has with the Filipino community. Our community of Port Pirie, as I have stated in this house previously, is a multicultural community and we have several hundred people who have migrated from the Philippines to Port Pirie.

All these people have settled in very well to our community, with many people marrying Port Pirie citizens. Many have also established various businesses. I must admit their food is some of the most beautiful you could ever partake of. Also, there are very skilled people out there operating businesses. They are very skilled in various trades, whether they are welders or mechanics, and quite a few are in the IT business in Port Pirie.

It is with these words that I mention the celebration of the 75^th anniversary between Australia and the Philippines. An event will be held at Port Pirie's new sporting precinct, with an excellent range of activities, including various video clips. At the meeting this Saturday night will be the St Mark's College principal, Mr Greg Hay, and Nyrstar, and we heard about Nyrstar yesterday with the question I asked about the TLAP direction and the new agreement and the extra funding.

There is also the St Mark's Parish, with Bishop Karol Kulczycki, SDS, DD, who is the new bishop for the Catholic diocese; he comes from Poland and he is absolutely fantastic. We also have the Honorary Philippine Consul, Mr Darryl Johnson. Mr Johnson is a Port Pirie boy. He lives in Port Pirie and has come down to Adelaide a fair bit and knows the member for Waite quite well. I have been to a couple of shows with the member for Waite at Polish Hill. Mayor Leon Stephens will be there, plus me and the member for Stuart, who will also be there representing the Premier.

It will be a very interesting night, and I think it is going to be fantastic. This weekend is hard, and you would be a bit surprised that in general local members of parliament are sometimes not appreciated for the number of events they go to. I have four events on Saturday night, and as the local member you need to try to get to every one of them. I had the opportunity to actually have one arrangement of going one, two, three, four, and then this organisation's 75^th anniversary wanted me to speak at eight o'clock that night, so I had to change everything around to be able to accommodate them.

On that night, I have the Filipinos, I have an Italian event, I also have a Muslim event and also my own number one football team, Port. I am the number one ticketholder there; the only thing is, we need to win a few more games. The Adelaide Crows will be the same next year, but we will be fairly close up to the top.

Certainly, the 75^th anniversary of the Filipinos relationship with Australia is very, very important. As I say, the people coming to Port Pirie from the Philippines they have actually married quite a few of our Port Pirie males and vice versa. We have had a lot of the Filipino girls coming over and marrying the boys and vice versa. I certainly believe we will have a nice night on Saturday and I am looking forward to reporting back to the parliament.