Thursday, 2 May 2024

Northern suburbs faith communities

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (19:04): (871) My action is to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, and the action I seek is for her to provide an update and to review funding for security at places of worship in the northern suburbs. I think we were all pretty shocked and saddened to see the terrorist incident in Sydney recently involving Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel. It sent chills down the spines of faith communities in Sydney and in the northern suburbs as well, particularly Middle Eastern Christian communities like the Chaldean, Syriac, Assyrian and Orthodox churches, who contribute so much to our vibrant multicultural communities. Whether it be Middle Eastern Christians from Iraq, Syria or surrounding nations, these communities have all faced some kind of persecution and have come to Australia for a better life and a safer life, so you can understand the trauma and the deep pain within these communities that events like this bring.

I was proud to work for the former Abbott government, which, under then immigration minister Peter Dutton, accepted 18,000 refugees after the Syrian crisis in 2015. This is when that persecution was most severe. He made the bold call, which was criticised by Labor and the media at the time, to prioritise persecuted minorities in that intake who were fleeing for their lives. Many of the families I see at new citizenship ceremonies every week, especially up in Hume, were part of this intake. I have been privileged to attend mass with a number of these communities, and I want to read out a statement from Chaldean organisations Chaldean Federation of Australia, Chaldean League Australia, Vic.Talk and Upfield sports clubs on the incident, which reads:

The freedom to practise one’s faith without fear of persecution is a cornerstone of our society, and any attack on individuals based on their religious beliefs is an affront to our shared values. It is essential we come together as a community to promote peace, understanding and mutual respect among all faiths and cultures.

I also took the opportunity to meet with these organisations to listen to their concerns. I also recently convened a meeting with all the clergy from all of these churches in the northern suburbs and brought along my federal colleague the Honourable Michael Sukkar to express solidarity, to pay our respects and to listen to community concerns. One of the things that came across loud and clear was fear about security around churches, with several windows being broken and the police response to incidents being slow. So I seek the action of the minister to advise of any funding opportunities for these growing churches for security and CCTV and what the minister is doing to protect people of faith in the north and ensure community cohesion.