Ferragosto at Five Dock - Speech from the Hon. Mark Coure MP

I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wangal people of the Eora nation. I would also like to acknowledge our hosts:

• The City of Canada Bay and the hard-working team of councillors and staff.
• • Distinguished guests, who include: Ms Sally Sitou MP, Federal Member for Reid, Mr John Sidoti MP, Member for Drummoyne and Father Danny Meagher, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Ciao!

Happy 25th anniversary, Festival of Ferragosto!

I am absolutely honoured to be here with you all today, representing our Premier Dominic Perrottet, for what is a wonderful and festive occasion.

Today, we are here to celebrate all things Italian.

It is clear that Italy, and the magnificent Italian people have had an incredible impact all around the world across and all facets of culture and society.

Especially the arts, architecture, fashion and of course, cuisine!

This might be a shock to many here today, but Australia has actually a higher per-capita rate of coffee consumption than Italy.

Funnily enough, yet again, we can thank this high-consumption rate to the Italian people.

Two Italian brothers, Orazio and Carmelo Cantarella, founded one of Australia’s most iconic coffee brands – Vittoria.

More than 70 years on, they are Australia’s largest coffee maker and distributor!

Undoubtedly, Ferragosta is a terrific example of how the Italian community has become part of modern Australia’s story and NSW community life.

Five Dock has long been a focal point for the Italian community in the Inner West.

Today, NSW is home to more than 300,000 people of Italian heritage, who continue to practice, preserve and share the wonders of Italian language and culture.

Like Orazio and Carmelo, Italian migrants and generations of their Italian-Australian descendants have played a vital role in shaping New South Wales.

And they have made huge contributions to every aspect of our society in Australia.

You’ve done this through your determination to succeed.

Your determination to contribute.

And your determination to give back.

And keeping the Italian heritage alive here today is so important.

It ensures we continue to take an interest in the cultures, languages and traditions of our families, friends, work colleagues and even neighbours.

Ferragosta - our largest Italian street fair – is a treasured event on the New South Wales cultural calendar.

The NSW Government is proud to support Ferragosto with substantial grants each year because we want to celebrate our incredible cultural diversity.

As Minister for Multiculturalism, I am proud that we have also recently invested more than $1 million into groups to host cultural events and festivals in their local areas – just like this one.

Once again, the NSW Government is proud to also partner with the City of Canada Bay in bringing us all together for this fabulous occasion.

By doing this, we help celebrate our amazing diverse heritage and share our cultural history with each other.

This helps us understand more about each other, and helps achieve our collective vision.

This vision is to make New South Wales even greater.

Because it is only when we all contribute and collaborate, that we can thrive as one.

Festivals like this take a lot of hard work, so on behalf of the Premier, I want to thank everyone involved for putting in their time and skills to make this all happen.

I thank everyone involved in Ferragosta for preserving the Italian heritage and culture for future generations of Australians.

Grazie! (Thank you)