Pascoe Vale electorate
Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (15:02): (487) My constituency question is for the Minister for Multicultural Affairs: what funding programs are available to help support our proud, vibrant, diverse Greek community in Pascoe Vale, Coburg and Brunswick West? On 4 February, on Sunday, I had the absolute pleasure of attending the 40th Coburg Greek festival in Victoria Street, Coburg. Now a feature of Coburg’s events calendar, the festival draws thousands of people from across the northern suburbs and is a wonderful celebration of all things Greek: culture, food, music, dance and faith. As part of my remarks on the day, whilst I acknowledged I am proudly married to a woman of Greek Cypriot heritage, I was also very pleased to reflect on the history of the festival, which was first held in February 1984 at Bridges Reserve in Coburg, with the very special guest being then Prime Minister Bob Hawke, the federal member for Wills. Along with local residents in attendance it was a pleasure to celebrate the 40th anniversary alongside His Grace Bishop Evmenios; Father Leonidas Iannou; Father Efstathios Papadopoulos; Bill Papastergiadis, the Greek community council president; and Peter Khalil, the member for Wills. The festival would not be possible without all of the volunteers, but with growing demand the Greek community is looking for further funding opportunities down the track via the minister.