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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-28 Daily Xml
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AUSTRALIA DAY

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (15:21): On 26 January each year we celebrate Australia Day. We celebrate what being Australian means to each and everyone of us. For some of us, it is sharing time with family and friends or enjoying a beer at the cricket. For others, it is a celebration of a new beginning, of freedom from oppression and the opportunity to start a new life and find a new home. It is also an opportunity to remember and respect the traditional owners of this land, to remember the wars that we have fought and the sons and daughters we have lost, and to remember the many migrants who have come to our shores over the years from far and wide, who have helped our nation to prosper.

I was privileged this year to participate in a number of Australia Day events both in my electorate of Mitchell and farther afield. On Australia Day eve I dropped by the local Woolworths to support a great community initiative the supermarket had organised. To get into the Aussie spirit staff dressed up in their favourite Aussie clothing and put on the very first sausage sizzle fund raiser for the local Salvation Army.

The Salvos do amazing work in and around the southern suburbs, including offering financial and general counselling, as well as emergency relief for people who are doing it tough. That evening I attended a citizenship ceremony and an Australia Day awards ceremony held by the Marion council. I find that citizenship ceremonies held around Australia Day are always inspiring for everybody to participate in. The pledge of commitment to uphold our laws and pledge loyalty to our democracy, our rights and our liberty, is especially heart warming when it is a part of Australia Day celebrations.

I would like to offer my warm congratulations to the Citizen of the Year, Patricia Wade, for her tireless work as President of Riding for the Disabled for the past 15 years, also to Mr Michael Payne of Sheidow Park, who was awarded Young Citizen of the Year for the enormous amount of volunteer work he undertakes, including teaching seniors how to become techno-savvy and serving food for the homeless at Westcare. Congratulations also to the wonderful folk at the Marion Historic Village Project, for their hard work organising the Light Square Lantern Parade, which won Community Event of the Year.

I attended the lantern parade with my children, and I have to agree it is one of the most spectacular community events that I have ever had the privilege to participate in. On Australia Day itself I attended a citizenship and Australia Day awards ceremony hosted by the Onkaparinga council. I would also like to congratulate the Australia Day Citizen of the year, Mr Bernard Smart, who has been stalwart of the Kangarilla community for more than 60 years.

Congratulations also to Mr Lance Fakes, Young Citizen of the Year, for his work in creating opportunities for southern youth to explore theatre and dance, and also to the Southern Football League for its 125th year event, which earned the Community Event of the Year Award.

I then attended the Australia Day parade in Adelaide, one of the largest in the country, featuring more than 3,500 participants from more than 100 community groups and cultural organisations. It was an honour to mingle among the many groups from all around the globe celebrating their cultures and heritage. From Japan to India, from Somalia to Fiji, from Brazil to Papua New Guinea, from China to Ethiopia, it felt like every country in the world was represented there.

The national costumes, the colours and the music were just incredible. It is a reminder of how lucky we are to be part of such a diverse and vibrant community and how lucky we are to be able to bring together people from all over the world to live in this great country that offers freedom, democracy and opportunity.

It also made me think about what it really means to be Australian. It can be many things but, most of all, I think it is about this: loving the country that we live in, respecting ourselves and each other, promoting the fair go, recognising that there is prosperity enough to share with all who call this land home, and enjoying celebrating Australia Day with good friends and family and having good food and good times. That is what being Australian is to me on Australia Day.

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