Tuesday, 16 May 2023

 Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (14:07): Last week I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at the City of Ballarat citizenship ceremony, where 82 new citizens took the pledge to become Australians. It was a great ceremony and the first ceremony, I am led to believe, where the ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie’ chant spontaneously erupted – and I hope it will not be the last time.

A member interjected.

Joe McCRACKEN: I know. I was particularly inspired by the story of Yaqoob Kazan, who is one of the intercultural ambassadors for the City of Ballarat. Yaqoob came from Central Asia to Ballarat, and despite being here for a relatively short period of time, he has hit the ground running, establishing the wonderful Kazan Central Asian Kitchen, which serves beautiful food, including sweets, falafel, soups, kebabs and many other things that I do not know how to pronounce. He is an entrepreneur employing locals in his business. He is kind, generous and a very community-minded man and loves giving back to his local community, which he says has given him so much. He also sponsors local events. Yaqoob is a great man, and I commend him and his contribution to the Ballarat community.