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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
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Islamic College of South Australia

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (15:40): I would like to let the Parliament of South Australia know about my recent visit to the Islamic College of South Australia in the Speaker's electorate of Croydon. It was an eye-opening visit, and it was the first time that I had visited the college.

One thing that I was most impressed by during my visit was the inclusiveness of the people at the college. They all made me feel extraordinarily welcome. They invited me to speak at their morning assembly and then I got a lovely tour and, indeed, morning tea with their senior board members, their principal and, of course, the chairman of their council, Dr Farouk Khan. He is not only the chairman but also the founder of the Islamic College here in South Australia.

I was pleased to meet with board members, including Dr Faisal Chaudhary and Dr Abul Hossain, and to also meet Dr Pam Dettman, who is the principal of the Islamic College of South Australia. In my address to the students, I talked about the importance of cultural diversity. That is something that we can be extraordinarily proud of in South Australia, especially when we go back to the early origins of our state. Of course, our state was one that was very much founded on the fundamentals of equality, democracy and religious freedom.

I emphasised this point to the students, because where other jurisdictions sometimes tolerate people from different ethnic backgrounds or with different religious beliefs, we do not just tolerate; we actively encourage them to come to South Australia. In preparation for my speech at the Islamic College, it was great to do a little bit of research. I found that the first Muslims came to South Australia in the 1860s, in fact very early in the 1860s, and they were encouraged to come here by none other than the Elder company, because they were, of course, involved at that time in transporting wheat and other stores around our state and in the building of the Overland Telegraph, which ran from Adelaide to Darwin.

The Elder company wanted to find people to help with transporting at that time, and the most advanced people in the world at transporting in the desert were, of course, the Afghan cameleers. A number of Afghan cameleers came out to South Australia to work on these important projects, not just for South Australia but for the entire nation, and we are very grateful for the contribution that they made.

These migrants, when they came to South Australia, always set up a mosque wherever they worked. The first mosque in Australia was set up in South Australia, in Marree in 1888, and between 1888 and 1890 the community set to work to establish the first city-based mosque in Little Gilbert Street in Adelaide. So you see, Deputy Speaker, we have an enormous heritage, not just of tolerance, but of positive encouragement of people from different backgrounds. That is such an important lesson for students of all schools in South Australia.

I was also impressed that so many of the staff at the school were from a different background than Islam, and this is very important to the school. They really teach diversity. They have excellent grounds and a hardworking board that has built a very handsome campus that augments the original school, now with a fantastic new gym, fantastic library facilities and attractive classrooms. I know that there is another massive building program being contemplated by the board going forward.

The school starts in the early learning years and goes right through to year 12. On behalf of this parliament, I would like to congratulate the college on the excellent work they do in promoting diversity and harmony. Also, I wish all the year 12 students at that college, who are probably studying for their exams right now, all the very best.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Of course, you are welcome at Burc College in my electorate, sir, which is a wonderful Islamic school. Member for Ashford.

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