Multiculturalism

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-128410

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

Multiculturalism

Ms WENDY LINDSAY (East Hills) (15:06:16):

I address my question to the Minister for Multiculturalism. Will the Minister update the House on how the Government is investing in multicultural communities across New South Wales?

Mr MARK COURE (OatleyMinister for Multiculturalism, and Minister for Seniors) (15:06:35):

— I thank the member for East Hills for her question. She is an outstanding member and an active member for her community. As Minister for Multiculturalism, I am so proud that New South Wales is one of the most multicultural States in the world. Members on this side of the House want to make it even more successful. To do that, we must continue to invest in multicultural communities across New South Wales, helping people to build a brighter future for themselves and their families. We are doing just that.

The SPEAKER:

Order! I call the member for Wollongong to order for the third time.

Mr MARK COURE:

In this year's budget we invested an additional $28 million to support multicultural, multilingual and multi-faith communities in New South Wales over the next two years. That is the single biggest budget allocation that any government has invested in multiculturalism ever in New South Wales, and it is only possible because of our strong economic management. While we continue to focus on what matters, over the weekend NSW Labor held its annual conference. During the conference the word "unions" was mentioned 270 times in the first hour. While there has been mention of the Concord West branch of the Labor Party—

Mr Dominic Perrottet:

And Rhodes.

Mr MARK COURE:

And the Rhodes branch of the Labor Party. The Oatley-Peakhurst branch of the Labor Party has shown a lot of support for me over many years. It moved to allocate significant resources to respond to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse persons—mission accomplished, because the Government is allocating $28 million over the next two years, taking the total investment for Multicultural NSW to over $70 million. That will support major cultural festivals and events and it will enhance the State's multicultural and multi-faith community. Of course, some members may think, "Surely Labor must have a policy to support multicultural communities." I hate to break it to them but it does not. Labor has not made a single announcement on multicultural communities in New South Wales.