Dr MARJORIE O'NEILL (Coogee) — I rise today to congratulate Bernie Friedlander OAM and Moving Forward Together for hosting an impressive Harmony Day Poster and Song Writing Competition.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate the diversity of NSW, which is the home to over 200 different nationalities, with close to a third of residents born overseas.

The NSW Labor Opposition supports and embraces Harmony Day. The benefits of promoting community harmony include vibrant and varied communities; the ability to learn and grow from other cultures, thereby improving our innovation and productivity; and the ability to show kindness, respect and support for others which is the true mark of a civilised society.

The focus of Harmony Day and of the poster and song writing competition is education. It is about ensuring the students of NSW can lead the way in ensuring all those who have come from other lands can make their home here and feel welcome and included.

Credit to B'nai Brith Anti-Defamation Unit, the NRL, Multicultural NSW, Amitran and the Australian Catholic University for sponsoring such a positive community building initiative.