Speeches
Saturday, 26 April 2025
Croatian Club 75th Anniversary Gala Dinner
Rod and I are pleased to join you to celebrate 75 years of the Croatian Club of Adelaide, one of the oldest Croatian clubs in Australia.
It’s great to see a wide variety of ages represented here this evening and to feel your evident pride in achieving this milestone.
I understand that 60 percent of you are descendants of foundation members and some are descendants of the founders themselves.
I thank you all for your commitment to the Croatian Club community and for maintaining its sense of strength and unity over the years, as it has evolved in its purpose and activities.
From humble origins helping post war migrants to settle in our state, your club has grown significantly, enabling South Australians with Croatian heritage to stay connected to Croatian culture.
You’ve also gone on to share your culture with the broader community, for example through Croatian radio programs, and to represent yourselves in the broader community, through activities such as local soccer (“football”) competitions.
As your community has aged, you have actively supported initiatives such as Croatian Care for the Aged and the Croatian Chaplaincy.
We know that participating in community, and experiencing a sense of belonging, is extremely beneficial for our mental as well as physical health – especially as we age.
I thank you sincerely for providing this for your members.
Friends,
Multiculturalism is often associated with cultural attributes such as food, dancing and national costume.
These are very important, and I thank the Croatian club for keeping these traditions alive within the local Croatian community, and for sharing them with broader South Australian society.
As we also know, cultural diversity runs deeper and wider than this.
As Governor and previously as a diplomat, I have come to appreciate the cultural, social and economic benefits of cultural diversity, and the range of perspectives it brings, to our society.
Our culturally diverse community helps to open opportunities for trade and investment through people-to-people connections between our state and the world.
It bolsters our ability to produce world-class cultural festivals, building cultural links between South Australia and neighbouring regions.
And it makes our state attractive to international students, whose presence enriches our community, while growing South Australia’s reputation abroad in education and tourism.
These are just some of the benefits. There are of course many more.
I thank the Croatian club for the ways in which it reaches out to the broader community, and I encourage your members, especially the younger generations, to look for new ways to continue this involvement.
Congratulations to you all on this important anniversary.
Živjeli!