By BRIDGET SCOTT
THE president of the Casey Multifaith Network has thrown his support behind the possibility of a dinner celebrating diversity despite some opposition at a previous council meeting.
Councillor Rafal Kaplon put forward the suggestion at a council meeting last week and requested that the council consider holding a City of Casey Cultural Diversity Celebration Dinner during Cultural Diversity Week next year, as part of the upcoming budget deliberations.
This idea came after the City of Casey was not invited Premier gala event this year.
“I felt it was disappointing, that the City of Casey, one of biggest multicultural populations in Melbourne, was not represented there,” he said.
“The idea came up about hosting our own.”
However councillor Rosalie Crestani was against the idea saying that she feared that Australian culture would begin to lose its identity.
“My first priority is bringing the community together,” she said.
“We can’t forget Australian culture.
“We have to be careful about promoting other cultures.”
She said while the spirit of what councillor Kaplon suggested was “spot on”, the Australian identity should not be left behind.
“I think it’s time for the leaders of the community to sit down and say let’s promote Australian culture before we lose our identity,” she said.
However president of the Casey Multifaith Network Jim Reiher said Australia is not losing its culture, it is being enriched.
“The world has changed and we have changed,” he said.
“Australian culture has evolved and will continue to, we have to embrace that and add to it.”
“We live in a country that is culturally diverse and we must demonstrate that we can get on well,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if we believe different things, we need to get on well.”
Mr Reiher said celebrations such as these dinners are “wonderful” and helped to spread the message.
