Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Serbian Orthodox Church and School Community St Stefan

Lee TARLAMIS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:05): (561) The adjournment matter I raise this evening is for the Minister for Multicultural Affairs the Honourable Ingrid Stitt. Recently I had the pleasure of joining with the Serbian Orthodox Church and School Community St Stefan in Keysborough to celebrate the completion of their wonderful upgraded facility along with my parliamentary colleague Tim Richardson. This project has created a welcoming, safe and accessible environment that caters for the needs of the Serbian community and many other communities in the south-east that use these facilities. Our Serbian community is an integral part of the vibrancy and diversity that we in Victoria are so proud of, with over 30,000 people in Victoria having Serbian ancestry. The City of Greater Dandenong and the City of Casey, which I represent, are among the areas with the largest numbers of Serbian-born people.

Our state and our community are greatly enriched by the significant contributions made by Victoria’s Serbian community. Their strong family values and their willingness to help others have seen our Serbian community make a positive impact in the local community and across the state. It is important to acknowledge and thank the Serbian community for their ongoing willingness to share their culture and traditions with Victorians. This has enabled us to experience and learn about Serbia’s vibrant, deeply meaningful and rich cultural heritage by bringing people together to celebrate the history, customs and traditions that make the country so unique. That is exactly what we were immersed in during the celebration. We were treated to a vibrant traditional cultural program with performances by the Serbian school accompanied by traditional and tasty food, all of which showcased Serbian culture and traditions.

The Victorian government was proud to partner with the Serbian community to upgrade their community hall, which included replacing the ceiling, refurbishing the foyer and toilets and replacing the kitchen, electrical supply and heating and cooling. I want to acknowledge everyone who contributed to making this project a reality, including Alan Topic, who was the coordinator of the project and who I had a number of conversations with at various stages of the project. I also want to acknowledge the more than 100 amazing and inspiring volunteers who contributed more than 3600 volunteer hours to this project. Without them and the additional financial contribution from the Serbian community this project would not have been possible.

I am certain these upgraded facilities will be well utilised by the community, just as the playground that the government also contributed to is. The funding for this project came from the Multicultural Community Infrastructure Fund, which supports multicultural community organisations to have safe and secure places to celebrate and share their history and traditions, build connections and thrive, and that is exactly what has been achieved through this project.

While attending this wonderful celebration I accepted a framed award of merit from the Serbian Orthodox Church of St Stefan on behalf of the minister in recognition of the support provided by the Victorian government. The action I seek is for the minister to catch up with me so that I can pass this on to her, and I also extend an open invitation for the minister to visit the Serbian community at an appropriate time.