Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre - Italian National Day

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-144275

Hansard session: Fifty-Eighth Parliament, First Session (58-1)

Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre - Italian National Day

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley)

—Speaker, I rise to congratulate Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre for hosting their 'Festa Della Repubblica' celebrations, also known as Italian National Day. Italian National Day commemorates the referendum of 1946, celebrating Italy becoming a republic. More than 100 people from the Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre's Senior Group attended on the day to celebrate. From all accounts, it was a wonderful day, with many of the senior residents partaking in singing and dancing, celebrating this important part of their culture. Whilst I unfortunately did not get the chance to attend, events like this help to strengthen the multicultural bonds in New South Wales, whilst also keeping our local seniors engaged with the community. Italy and its people have had an enormous impact not just in NSW, but across the world. NSW is home to more than 270,000 people of Italian heritage, who continue to practice and preserve their culture and language. I would like to wish everyone of Italian heritage in my community a very happy Della Repubblica Italian Festa. A big thank you to Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre for hosting this important event.