The presentation of 2016 Governor’s Multicultural awards was held on Tuesday 21 March on the grounds of Government House. A large crowd of more than 400 people – see photo – attended this ceremony. The attendees included the Lieutenant Governor of South Australia, Professor Brenda Wilson; Jay Weatherill, Premier of South Australia; Hon Zoe Bettison, MP, Minister of Multicultural Affairs; Hon Jing Lee MLC, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs – representing the Leader of the Opposition; Hon Michael Atkinson, Speaker of the House of Assembly; several state MPs; Martin Haese, Lord Mayor of Adelaide; the mayors of nine city councils; and the heads of most ethnic community associations.
The awards were presented by His Excellency, The Honourable Hieu Van Le AC, Governor of South Australia. Each category of award was contested. Our nominee, Michael Popowicz – see photo – won the Senior Volunteer award for services to the Ukrainian Catholic Church at Woodville, the USC Lion Soccer Club, the Hopak dance ensemble, and to AUSA. Michael is currently the Treasure of AUSA. Congratulations Michael.
The Ukrainian community scored another big win with Yevshan. They were asked to perform at the ceremony and in fact, they were the only group that were asked. See photo of the Yevshan dancers with the Premier, Jay Weatherill.
Frank Fursenko