MATTERS OF INTEREST

AFRICAN FESTIVAL

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (15:27): As members of parliament, we often have the pleasure of being invited to celebrations from many community groups. One such group is the African Communities Council of South Australia. In recent years, their festival has grown from strength to strength and this year it was held during our Fringe Festival and moved to Hindmarsh Square in the city.

The council, over the past 12 years, has provided a platform to promote and support the contribution of African South Australians to our society, both at the social and economic level. Some 17,000 African-born people call South Australia home today. As a migrant to this country myself, it is interesting to watch and see a new wave of migrants progress from new arrivals to full participation in all community life.

Without any doubt, that could not happen without the support, advocacy and leadership demonstrated by peak bodies like the African Communities Council of South Australia. The council represents the interests of 42 African community groups and organisations across our state. It works tirelessly across all areas, from delivering settlement services to planning for the needs of older Africans, as well as recognising the need to empower women and the young.

Before talking about this year's festival, I think it important to place on the record that last year saw a great deal of acknowledgement and celebration in our state as part of the United Nations proclamation of 2011 as the International Year for People of African Descent. The commemorative dinner, in particular, was, I understand, a tremendous special occasion and success.

When speaking about the African community, one name is synonymous with its leadership and that is, of course, Dr Joseph Masika, who has been the chairperson of the African Communities Council of South Australia since 2007. Dr Masika is respected for his tireless voluntary work in his community, spanning some 27 years, 12 of those overseas. He continues with his passion of volunteering with migrants, refugees and multiculturalism, as well as underprivileged communities overseas. He has strengthened and added to his academic qualifications in order to advocate for the effective settlement of community members of new and emerging communities.

It is no surprise that Dr Masika was an African Man of the Year Award winner last year. Besides all his volunteer work, he is able to assist at the coalface on a day-to-day basis as a manager of multicultural health, advocacy, counselling and education at the Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia. More recently, I was particularly pleased to see his appointment as a commissioner to the South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission as well.

The festival is a great occasion to support our African community in South Australia, to catch up with friends and hear some tremendous music, see some great rhythmic dancing and hear some beautiful voices. I have known Dorinda Hafner, an African Australian Woman of the Year, for many years. Dorinda is a passionate foodie for South Australia, among her many talents. The point was made by some people that when Dorinda arrived in South Australia she was probably one of the few, if not the only, African born woman we knew. I am pleased to say that is no longer the case.

In her address this year, minister Jennifer Rankine highlighted the achievements of those of African descent, ranging from sporting achievements to their prominence among the finalists and winners of the 2011 Governor's Multicultural Awards. The minister also highlighted that she had the privilege of launching a new Settlement Services Finder on the Multicultural SA website, which essentially allows people to discover the type of services available for their particular needs. She was also very pleased to be able to present a cheque from the government's Multicultural Grants Scheme to go towards the cost of staging this wonderful festival.

The Hon. Senator Kate Lundy—now a minister, but in her then capacity as Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs—has always brought a special message of support to the community and demonstrated the federal government's commitment to settlement and multiculturalism. From memory, there were 12 or so members of parliament present on the day in support of the festival, both from the government and the opposition. I congratulate everyone who worked so hard to ensure the success of the 11^th Annual African Festival.