08
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 5 Number 1 | October 2014
COMMUNITY
Pinoy artists, performers shine
at Auburn art show
THE
works of Pinoy artists went on display at the Peacock Gallery Auburn Arts studio
last month at the Four Seasons Exhibition and Sacred Music Afternoon multicultural event.
Filipino artists Francisco Rovero (4th from left) and Alberto Estanislao (rear on the right) with APCO Director Glorina Papaioannou, Auburn Mayor Hicham Zraika,
Philippine Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis, APCO founding president Dr Cen Amores and secretary Pet Storey
FILIPINO artists Francisco
‘Frank’ Rovero and Bert Estanislao displayed their paintings
alongside fellow artists Lorraine and Maurice Fernandez
from the Indian community.
Auburn Lord Mayor Hi-
cham Zraika opened the exhibition emphasising the value
of recognising the art works of
migrants and the importance of
engaging people from diverse
backgrounds through the arts.
The art exhibition was
followed by the Sacred Music Afternoon participated in
by different ethnic communities. The Filipino-Australian
community was represented
by the Alliance of Philippine
Community
Organisations,
Inc which showcased the traditional ‘Sinulog’, a salakot
dance performed by the Mindanao Ethnic Dance Group, the
‘Tinikling’ and a presentation
by coloratura soprano Linda
Trinidad.
Departure ‘eGates’
at Australian airports
A boost to Australia's border protection
NEXT generation
automated
departures eGates
would be rolled
out at each of
Australia's eight
major international
airports from mid2015, the Ministry
for Immigration and
Border Protection
announced last
month.
'THE deployment of eGate
technology is part of the Coalition Government's commitment of $158 million in additional funding for Immigration
and Border Protection to boost
our counter-terrorism capacity on our borders,' Minister
Morrison said. ‘The Coalition
Government is ensuring that
our border protection agencies are being backed with the
resources they need to do their
job in protecting all Australians from the terrorism threat.’
The minister had directed
Customs and Border Protection officers to shift their focus on border from facilitation
as a priority to security as a priority.
Implementation of the au-
tomated departures eGates
across our airports is an important investment in border
management, providing legitimate, law abiding travellers with an experience that is
seamless, low-touch and hightech, greatly advancing national security and border protection measures.
The minister said that
eGate technology ensures
frontline officers can facilitate
travellers more efficiently with
less manual intervention, enabling them more time to focus on traveller interactions,
intelligence gathering, enforcement and targeting activity, which are key to preventing
threats at the border.
Work is also underway to
expand the range of nationalities that are able to use SmartGate terminals when they arrive at any of Australia's eight
major international airports.
Over the next 12 months,
a series of trials are planned to
expand access to SmartGate to
a range of nationalities such as
Canadians, Irish, Malaysians,
Japanese, Chinese, Indians,
French and more. [www.immi.
gov.au]