The Federation of Sri Lankan Organisations of Queensland has gained representation at federal and local government levels.
Federation president Jay Weerawardena was invited recently to serve as a member of the round table meeting of the Federal Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, and Lord Mayor’s multicultural round table.
Dr Weerawardena said the annual Sri Lanka Day multicultural and food festival had attracted a lot of interest at government levels. The meetings were attended by leaders from a range of ethnic communities.
He said the round table meetings gave the FSOQ the opportunity to take up issues affecting the Sri Lankan community.
“I had my first meeting when the Assistant Minister, Julian Hill, visited Brisbane on October 15. This round table was to listen to the issues raised by leaders of multicultural communities in Queensland,” he said. “It was attended by representatives from 12 communities, including Chinese, Muslim, Bangladesh, Brazilian, Indian (Umesh Chandra), South African, and Samoan.
“I raised two immigration issues: trade immigrants having difficulty in getting their operating licences in Australia and the international students’ cap.
Dr Weerawardena said Mr Hill took note of all the issues.
The Lord Mayor’s Multicultural Round Table (LMRT) meeting was held on September 12.
“This is a bigger forum with many active community leaders and the Lord Mayor and senior officers of the Brisbane City Council present,” Dr Weerawardena said. “All LMRT members are officially invited to citizenship ceremonies held at City Hall.”
He thanked the FSOQ leadership team and patron Anton Swan for all the hard work in bringing recognition to the federation.
