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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-07 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Hartley Electorate

Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (16:19): I rise today to talk about a couple of community events that I have attended in recent times. On the weekend, in the suburb of Hectorville in my electorate of Hartley, I had the great pleasure of being able to attend the 75th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence Day, which was held at the Hectorville Catholic community hall on Montacute Road in Hectorville.

I want to take this opportunity to especially thank the local Sri Lankan community for their warmth and hospitality. I especially want to acknowledge and thank Dr Charitha Perera. He has now served as the Honorary Counsel for Sri Lanka here in South Australia for 10 years. I want to thank Charitha and also Mihiri, his wonderful wife, for going above and beyond for Sri Lankans here in South Australia. Whether it be as a conduit for new families when they come out here, who might need help for various things, or day-to-day consul assistance, they have been an absolute power couple when it comes to assisting the community, so I sincerely thank them for all their efforts.

We had the pleasure of participating, if you like, in various cultural performances. I want to thank and acknowledge all the volunteers who work very hard behind the scenes to make these sorts of events happen. After the ceremony itself, we were also afforded an absolutely wonderful set of refreshments.

The Sri Lankan community is a growing community in my electorate. I think if you consult the census, you will find that the suburb of Magill is one of the most densely populated in terms of Australians of Sri Lankan heritage.

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison interjecting:

Mr TARZIA: Yes, and others as well, minister. That’s right. What you will find is that in all walks of life they have contributed in such a large manner. For example, you will see that many of the various cafes and restaurants in my electorate now have the joy of serving Sri Lankan food in their premises.

Many of our local organisations and sporting teams are also the beneficiary of this migration. In Hectorville, for example, the Sri Lankan community provides a very strong contribution. They have brought a number of rivalries over here from schools or universities from the mother country, and some of the fiercest rivalries that we have, from a cricket point of view, are played in the seat of Hectorville. They are an amazing community, and I thank them for their ongoing warmth and hospitality. It is always a real pleasure to be able to join them at these events.

I had the great pleasure of visiting Sri Lanka, only on a stopover from India, but I do look forward to visiting in the not too distant future. There is one thing about the Sri Lankan community that is certain: they are a resilient people. They have had a number of challenges in recent times. Whether they face climate challenges, economic challenges, petrol prices, inflation, political unrest, one thing is sure: when they get through these crises, they come back better than when they went in. I have no doubt that if Australia is afforded the opportunity to receive many of these families from Sri Lanka, then I know that our community certainly will warm to them with open arms.

I also want to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about the Anglican parish of Magill. The St George’s church historical group invited us recently to the 150th anniversary service, which was held on Sunday 29 January 2023. The service was titled From the Old to the New and celebrated ‘serving Jesus together since 1848’. It started at 10.30am in the St George’s Anglican Church on St Bernard’s Road, Magill. It was followed by a barbecue lunch and refreshments, as well as various historical displays in the foyer, cemetery tours and other activities.

I have to say that I do not always like to visit cemeteries, but at this particular cemetery you are reminded about our rich heritage and our rich past. For example, on 30 January 1848 Bishop Augustus Short of Adelaide actually consecrated St George's, giving the church its proud distinction of being the first Anglican Church in the colony of South Australia to be consecrated.

I want to thank Fay Young, the archivist from the historical group, and say thank you to the clergy and thank you to the volunteers, and all the members of the parish, for their role in our community.

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