Mr TARZIA (Hartley) (12:10): I move:
That this house—
(a) congratulates the Society of Saint Hilarion on their significant milestone, celebrating their 60th anniversary in 2015;
(b) pays tribute to the Society of Saint Hilarion's service to Italian migrants and the wider community, especially through their aged-care facilities, which improves the lives of older people by providing high quality aged-care facilities within a culturally diverse community; and
(c) acknowledges the importance of their establishment and the work they have done over the last 60 years in the promotion and preservation of Italian heritage and, in doing so, also enriches the multicultural landscape of South Australia.
It gives me great pleasure to speak today on this motion. The Society of Saint Hilarion, as we know, was actually founded as not only a cultural body but a religious body in 1955. I believe it formally became incorporated in 1974. The origin of this group is certainly owed to the passion of an astounding and wonderful group of migrants who settled in South Australia after migrating from the town of Caulonia in Italy—notably about 27 kilometres from my grandfather Vincenzo's town of Siderno—and other surrounding regions in southern Italy, both sides of the Second World War.
In the 1980s, the Saint Hilarion group entered into the aged-care area where I believe they purchased a nursing home at Lockleys in Adelaide's western suburbs. Since then they have gone on to do wonderful and great things every day. They have grown to become one of the state's leading multicultural aged-care service providers in our state. It was a great pleasure to be able to go there recently and see the wonderful work that they do.
When you go to one of these homes, such as the Bene nursing home in the eastern suburbs, you see nothing but the absolute best care provided to these residents. Not only is it the best care but there is warmth and friendliness and they cater for many of these migrants in their native tongue, which is obviously a huge benefit, but, most importantly, they get home-made, good Italian food, which is an added bonus.
Today, the society owns and operates two facilities: a charming villa-style development at Fulham and a new House of Saint Hilarion at Seaton, which I believe was completed in about 2010. The society is a not-for-profit organisation and it certainly puts an enormous emphasis on family, family values and community values. That is underlined, as I just said, by ensuring that the residents enjoying nothing but the utmost quality and compassionate care in a warm, positive and loving environment. They not only focus on people's physical care but also on their mental, social and spiritual wellbeing. They often have feast celebrations and other religious celebrations and residents are included in that way as well.
The Society of Saint Hilarion is named after the patron saint of Caulonia. Caulonia is a small town in the region of Calabria in southern Italy. As a member of parliament who descends from Italian migrants originally, I am very proud to see the great work they have done. They have many traditions and one is a feast that members of the organisation put on and help out with. It is usually held in the third week of October with the Feast of Saint Hilarion, which has quite a large program. It is usually a five-day program of prayer and spirituality that takes place.
It culminates on the final day, which is always a Sunday, with the feast day. It has certainly evolved as one of the biggest and popular events of its kind in South Australia. It is always pleasing to see members of both sides of the house at the feast day supporting the church and the nursing home, and also getting on board with the celebrations of the day. The feast day is one of the largest of its kind in the state, and it certainly provides a full day of culture, entertainment and religious activities.
Visitors to the feast are always treated to many wonderful and fantastic musical and dance performances. Not only that, visitors can also enjoy some of the best pasta, trippa (tripe), spit roast pork, and gourmet barbecue, which is fantastic. For those with a sweet tooth there are always, of course, many zeppole, gelati, and so on.
I would especially like to thank the executive committee for all the work they do. At the time that this paper was presented, the executive committee included: non-voting councillors Matilda Gallina, Tahlia Greco and Lorenza Velardo. The voting councillors included Vince Circosta, Frank Naso, Ilario Nesci, and Carmel Stefano, public relations officer Vince Greco, secretary Sandra Greco, treasurer Jamie Crisera, Vice President Frank Naso, and President Jassmine Wood.
I also want to thank all of the volunteers, the men and women who look after the stalls, who also help with traffic and on the day put together many of the stalls and tents. They also organise the booklets, calendars and advertising which go into support the feast. I also thank the sponsors, because there are many who have contributed over the years to ensure that the feast continues and that the Society of Saint Hilarion is preserved, supported and maintained. With those words I commend the motion to the house.
