Thursday, 16 November 2023

Members statements

Niddrie electorate church anniversaries

Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Education, Minister for Medical Research) (09:42): I rise today to congratulate both St Andrew’s Anglican parish in Aberfeldie and St Martin De Porres parish, Avondale Heights, on their recent milestones and achievements. They have had wonderful celebrations of people of faith in my community. These institutions have been longstanding in my electorate and have continued to provide quality service to the community for many years.

I had the privilege of attending the feast day mass for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of St Martin De Porres parish recently. It was wonderful to be there with Archbishop Peter Comensoli as well as past and present parishioners and priests, including Fr Nhan Le, Fr Thomas Toretkiu, Fr Terry Kean and Fr Brian Cosgriff as well as Fr Gerard Dowling.

St Andrew’s parish in Aberfeldie also recently celebrated a milestone, celebrating their 100th anniversary. It was also a privilege to attend there. The service was a testament to the ongoing works of the parish in the community and the important role it plays in bringing people together. For more than 60 years St Andrew’s has operated a kindergarten service to the community. In fact I once attended there. It has been a capstone of the community for longer than I have been alive, and I have an inkling it will be still around long after I am here.

I commend both St Andrew’s and St Martin De Porres for their contributions to the community and look forward to the many milestones ahead. In particular I do want to thank Reverend Michael Danaher for his long history and involvement with the community at St Martin De Porres. I do want to commemorate priest Fr Nhan Le and all the people that were involved in the Marian garden, which we had the pleasure of blessing when we were there.