Canberra Liberals Leader, Elizabeth Lee, has today announced a suite of policies designed to promote and enhance Canberra’s multicultural and multifaith community.

Ms Lee said a Canberra Liberals government will deliver more opportunities for Canberrans of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds which includes:

• Providing $4.5 million in additional funding for the National Multicultural Festival.
• allocating $100,000 to support ACT multicultural community groups for community outreach programs.
• working with multicultural communities to enhance concessional lease opportunities for eligible multicultural community use.
• committing to grant a suitable concessional lease to facilitate the construction of a Nepalese Hindu Temple and Community Centre
• expediting the sale of a plot of public land adjacent to the Gungahlin Mosque
• undertaking a comprehensive review of the languages used in ACT Government material
• working with volunteer community language education providers to support better language education.

“These initiatives follow years of discussion and consultation with the multicultural community, and a Canberra Liberals Government will always respect and work closely with these communities,” Ms Lee said.

Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs Peter Cain said the announcements put forward today by the Canberra Liberals are proactive and practical.

“The Multicultural Festival is a wonderful event, and the additional funding put forward by the Canberra Liberals will provide more opportunities for the multicultural community to be celebrated in the ACT,” Mr Cain said.

“It is also very important for various multicultural groups to have the facilities they need and that is why a Canberra Liberals Government will work with the various multicultural communities to enhance concessional lease opportunities.

“Unlike the undelivered promises of Labor and the Greens, our initiatives are proactive and practical, and strike the right balance of investment, aspiration and growth,” Mr Cain concluded