​​​​​Good evening, everybody. Can I please begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet, the Whadjuk Noongar people and pay my respects to the elders, past, present and emerging, and I want to extend that respect to any First Nations people joining us here this evening. Can I also acknowledge all the distinguished guests here this evening, all the Members of Parliament, distinguished guests, councillors, and all my brothers and sisters in the room here tonight as well. Can I say a huge thank you to Dr. Casty and OAC, not just for the beautiful, warm welcome that I've had this evening, but for everything that you do. You are a powerhouse of the community and the impact that you have goes beyond the African community and it really impacts everybody in Western Australia, and you are truly appreciated for everything that you do. Thank you.

So, as Dr. Casty mentioned, I am really quite extraordinarily proud to be the first Minister for Multicultural Affairs, that is in the Labor Cabinet, in Federal Cabinet. It’s the first time that we've had Multicultural Affairs in the Cabinet as a standalone portfolio in the Cabinet, and -thank you. It really is a momentous moment because we really are at a time where we can really affect change and make multiculturalism mean something more than great food, great clothes, great colours and great celebration. And don't get me wrong, celebration and festivity, and, you know, food that tastes like chicken and beautiful dresses and clothing and colours is a really great part of our multicultural character. But multiculturalism is more than that. It's much more than that. It's about a sense of belonging that we pass on to our children and to future generations of Australians. It's about inclusivity, and it's about equal opportunity for every single person in Australia, no matter who you are, no matter where you were born, no matter where your parents were born, to be able to participate fully in Australian life, in the social fabric of this life, in economic participation and indeed in political participation.

And it's at this point that I want to make special mention of my sister, the Honourable Ayor Makur Chuot. Now, I don't have to say too much about Ayor because you all know her, but I do want to say this. I want to say that, as beautiful and graceful as she is, I recognise the challenges and the struggles of being the first, and as the first African member in our West Australian Parliament, I recognise the difficulties that Ayor had to go through to get to that position. But I also want to recognise the love and support of the people in this room, because we don't stand alone, none of us stand alone, none of us walk alone. And so, for Ayor to reach the position that she is, to now have little girls and little boys be able to look at somebody like Ayor in our parliament and to know that they too belong in this country and they belong in our parliament too. Ayor, my sister, I recognise and I appreciate the heavy burden and the responsibility that is on your shoulders to pave the way for future generations.

So, multiculturalism, I want to make it mean more than celebration and food, even though food is great, don't get me wrong, right? The food is great. But to be able to give us our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren that sense that multiculturalism isn't just a policy. It is who we are as a country. It is the character of our Australian nation. As the song says, we are one, but we are many, and from all the lands on earth we come. I am, you are, we are Australia.

My other portfolio is International Development, and yesterday I was here for most of the day for Africa Down Under. I think I had about eight bilateral meetings with ministers from different African countries, including the Prime Minister of Lesotho. And a consistent theme in all of those meetings was about the importance of people-to-people links. The importance of people-to-people links, whether that's through business, business-to-business links, whether it's through mining, or indeed whether it's through education. And as a proud graduate, three-time graduate of Edith Cowan University, three of my university degrees are from ECU, but also a former professor at Curtin University, it's really great to see both universities represented here tonight, and thank you for your support of this event and the support, your support for Africa Down Under and for the African community as well.

But you cannot replace those people-to-people links. You cannot replace the importance and the impact of people-to-people links between the various and diverse countries of Africa and the African community here in Australia as well. So, I encourage, I encourage you all to take heart tonight on this beautiful 10th birthday, double digits of the OAC and take heart tonight that the African community here in Western Australia, the impact that you have is not just within those or among those who were born in Africa, who are second or third generation African or first generation migrants of Africa, but the impact is much broader. It is across our whole entire country, our region and indeed the world. Indeed, the world as well. So, to OAC, I say happy birthday. To all the people who are receiving awards tonight, I say congratulations and well deserved. And to everybody else here tonight, I say enjoy the rest of your evening. Tonight is a night to celebrate achievements, to keep one eye to what we've achieved, and one eye to the future of what we're going to achieve. Thank you and good night.

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