The mayor made the statement while receiving Indonesian Consul General in Sydney Heru Hartanto Subolo and his wife, Sinta Subolo, at Cairns City Hall on Thursday (July 25).
"The Indonesian people here comprise those who are quite active in the development of multicultural communities in Cairns. They actively participate in multicultural events in Cairns,” Mayor Maning stated.
He pointed out that Indonesian people also organized Indonesian festivals biennially.
"Last year, I was present to deliver a speech at the festival,” he stated.
Of Cairns' total population of 165,525 people, according to data as of June 2018, over 400 of them are Indonesians or have an Indonesian background.
Of this figure, more than 200 people are able to speak Indonesian and converse in it in their homes or neighborhoods.
Consul General Subolo undertook a working visit to Cairns as part of the sub-regional diplomacy being conducted on a continual basis in Sydney to promote, inform, and present Indonesia in non-metropolitan areas under its working area.
"My office is based in Sydney, but the working area covers some 43 percent of Australia's total area, specifically the states of New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia," Consul General Subolo told Mayor Manning.
According to the consul, areas outside the metropolitan city play a crucial role in the implementation of the Indonesia and Australia Strategic Comprehensive Partnership.
"Hence, I specifically schedule the first visit to establish good relations with the Cairns regional administration and several other relevant parties and meet with the Indonesian people," he stated.
In addition to meeting the Cairns mayor, the consul general was also scheduled to hold meetings with local media and local authorities as well as open consular and immigration services on Saturday (July 27). EDITED BY INE
Reporter: Bambang Purwanto
Editor: Eliswan Azly
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
