PR-03-2023
Top: The Consular Corps in Melbourne participate the Australia Day celebration at the Government House. Right: Australia Day parade at the Filipino Hub in Brooklyn. |
“Congratulations to all Australians who have come from all corners of this planet, including my fellow Filipinos who have settled in this part of Australia to find their own piece of happiness,” this was the opening statement of Consul General Maria Lourdes when she joined around 100 Filipino-Australians who celebrated Australia Day on 26 January 2023 at the Filipino Hub in Brooklyn.
Earlier that day, she joined other members of the Consular Corps when they took part in the flag-raising ceremony at the Government House hosted by H.E. Linda Dessau, Governor of Victoria, and husband Anthony Howard AM KC. The Governor spoke of gratitude for three things, namely, ancient tradition of the First Nations people, British influence and democracy and the richness of multicultural communities.
Speaking at the event of the Filipino Community Council of Victoria, Consul General Salcedo thanked the Filipino-Australians for nurturing Filipino values and traditions. She encouraged them to consider availing of dual citizenship and overseas voting. She also promoted the recently launched tourism program Bisita, Be My Guest.
For this part, Consul Jan Sherwin Wenceslao joined the Australia Day celebration organised by 5Bs Humanitarian Inc. at the St Paul Community Centre in Sunshine West. He spoke of Australia’s hospitality, multiculturalism and enabling social environment, which allows the Filipino community in Victoria to contribute to the unbridled progress of the Australian story. He mentioned of the longstanding friendship, through “mateship” and “bayanihan”, between the Philippines and Australia, as manifested in their shared values of freedom and equality, commitment to the rule of law, and humanitarian compassion for all. He said that the Consulate, which opened in 2021, continues to offer its full range of consular services, and urged Filipinos to re-acquire their Filipino citizenship and register for absentee voting for the 2025 National and Local Elections.
Clockwise from top left: Consul Jan Sherwin Wenceslao at Australia Day celebration of 5Bs Humanitarian; Consul General Maria Lourdes Salcedo with Malaysian Consul General Mazita Marzuki at the 2023 AO Inspirational Series; Seven of the great nine women tennis players at Australia Open, one of the four grand slams.
Before the day came to a close, Consul General Salcedo joined other women leaders for the Australia Open Inspirational Series networking and dinner at the Zinc Hall in the Federation Square where officials of Tennis Australia honored seven of the nine great tennis players who turned around the history of tennis by allowing women to play equitably like men tennis players. The guests were then treated to the women semi-finals of Australia Open up until late hours of the night. END
