E&OE.
Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a really great honour to be here with you today.
Can I start by saying thank you very much to the Prime Minister.
Ambassador, thank you for your warm words, very wise words, and it’s been wonderful to spend the morning with you, as well. So, thank you very much.
Bihong, you do an amazing job. You are a legend and you do so much for the community! It’s wonderful to be back here at this festival.
To you, to the Vice Presidents, to everybody involved in the community, I do want to say, on behalf of all of my colleagues, thank you so much for the big effort, the amazing effort and the spectacle that you’ve put on today. So, thank you very much for that.
To Jeff Xu, thank you very much – not just today, but the philanthropic support, the work that you do, the people you employ, and the amount that you give back to this local community that you love so much – thank you very much for being here.
Would you please give our sponsors and the organisers a big round of applause?
I’m very proud to be here today with my team.
I want to say thank you very much to Jason Wood and to Michael Sukkar, to Keith Wolahan, and also to Brad Battin, who is the state Leader of the Liberal Party here in Victoria, as you know, and doing a great job.
Thank you all so very much to Katie Allen and to Amelia Hamer as well, who are wonderful friends of the community.
I want to say a very happy Lunar New Year to everybody here today.
It was wonderful walking in with the dancers, to see in particular the young children who were really involved in this wonderful spectacle, the wonderful festival and celebration that is today.
Families who are here to celebrate culture and families who are here to provide an opportunity to their children to gain a better understanding of Lunar New Year.
It is the Year of Wood Snake – as we heard before – it’s associated with wisdom and with change, but as we know, with shrewd decision-making as well.
To you and your families, we know that it is a time of renewal, of family, and hope, and I hope that 2025 is exactly that year.
The community here today and right across the country as we celebrate Lunar New Year, it’s a wonderful opportunity – as the previous speakers have pointed out – to celebrate a connection between our two great nations. It goes back to the 19th century.
But the future, which is the most important element of this relationship, is brighter than it’s ever been before.
I want to make two announcements today, and they’re important announcements.
I want to announce that if a Coalition Government is elected at the next election, that we will confirm funding of $250,000 to this festival to make sure that it can continue with great strength into the future.
[applause]
One element that I wanted to concentrate on today – which I don’t think is done well enough in our country – is the story of the contribution of people of Chinese heritage and from the Chinese diaspora that they’ve made to our country, not just every day of the year, but during times of conflict as well, and in particular during the course of the Second World War.
In my home state in Queensland, and New South Wales as well, there is a permanent shrine of remembrance of the contribution of people of Chinese heritage who served in the uniform of the Australian Defence Force.
Keith Wolahan is a man who has served in uniform for his country and now works so hard for his community.
He, and Jason Wood in particular, but along with Katie Allen and Amelia Hamer and my other colleagues, have spoken to me about what I think is a very important commitment that we want to make to the community if the Coalition Government is elected.
I am pleased to announce today that we would fund the commissioning of a memorial sculpture which recognises the service and sacrifice of Chinese Australians in the service of our great nation. It will be hosted at the Box Hill RSL and located in the Box Hill Gardens.
[applause]
Thank you.
There is a wonderful Australian – and I want you to Google this name – his name is William Edward Sing. He was the ‘Gallipoli sniper’, and he came to our country, he contributed to our country as a member of the Australian Defence Force. He’s a hero of our country and we honour him and many others who served alongside him in the Second World War and in conflicts since then.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour and pleasure to be here with you today with so many friends.
As we move around the country and we celebrate the great migrant story of our country, we talk about Lunar New Year as being an opportunity: an opportunity to grow and strengthen this relationship, and we do that by your presence here today.
Thank you. It’s an honour to be here.
Happy Lunar New Year to you, to your family and great strength and prosperity, happiness and healthiness, to you, to your family and to all of your interests.
Thank you so much.
[ends]