The NSW Premier’s Harmony Dinner for 2022 was a huge success on Tuesday night as over 1000 multicultural leaders and community groups gathered to celebrate their significant contributions to the state.
Held in the Grand Ballroom at the International Convention Centre, attendees were treated to a sit-down dinner and a number of special performances by Thandi Phoenix and the Matavai Pacific Cultural Arts group.
Official proceedings were kicked off by emcees for the night, Catalina Florez and Ali Bahnasawy. They introduced Uncle Allan Murray to the stage for the traditional ‘Welcome to Country,’ followed by the Walangari Dance Group for the smoking ceremony.
The NSW Federation of Community Languages Schools Choir, which included a young boy dressed in a traditional Greek tsolia costume, also went on stage to perform the Australian National Anthem and ‘Together We Are One.’
This was followed by a number of speeches from the NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet MP; the NSW Minister for Multiculturalism and Seniors, Mark Coure MP; the Chair of the Multicultural NSW Advisory Board, Dr G.K Harinath OAM; and the CEO of Multicultural NSW, Joseph La Posta.
In his speech, the Premier welcomed everyone to the event and stressed the importance of coming together to acknowledge the “phenomenal efforts that our multicultural community has made throughout the last two years [of the pandemic].”
Mr Coure, who was attending the Dinner for the first time as Minister for Multiculturalism, congratulated all multicultural leaders for their achievements and thanked them for continuing to make NSW “a fantastic place to live, work and visit.”
At the conclusion of these speeches, the 2021 Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards Winners were acknowledged in a special video presentation. This included The Greek Herald‘s own digital journalist, Andriana Simos, who was named NSW Young Journalist of the Year and won Best Audio / Visual Report.
Later, the Premier’s Multicultural Community Medals were presented in categories such as the Carla Zampatti Arts and Culture Medal, the Settlement Services International NSW Human Right Medal, and the NSW Rugby League Youth Medal.
It was an enjoyable night for all in attendance.
*All photos copyright: Salty Dingo.
