2016-08-30
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — Late last week I had the great pleasure of joining the Montmorency Asylum Seekers Support Group at its 11th fundraising lunch for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC). I am pleased to report that lunch event raised $3000 for the ASRC. I certainly commend the work of Barbara Jackson and Marie Krohn who have been driving forces in that particular group. In terms of the day, we were very fortunate because Kon Karapanagiotidis, founder of the ASRC, spoke about the work of the ASRC and the parlous state of affairs in relation to people seeking safety on our shores.
In terms of the Montmorency Asylum Seekers Support Group, it has an extraordinary history in that it was a group of friends who got together for coffee in 2001, very soon after the Tampaincident, and they decided to do something for asylum seekers. They have been working on that question, on that journey, ever since. What concerned them was that people seeking asylum were living in the community while they waited for their applications to be heard but they were going hungry. They decided to get practical and get active and they started raising money for those asylum seekers. I commend their efforts and their work. More strength to their arm.