Today we acknowledged the incredible work by Parliament on King supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the Newtown electorate.
Ms JENNY LEONG ( Newtown ) ( 17:41 :05 ): In Refugee Week I would like to this Parliament to acknowledge Parliament on King, a unique social enterprise that nurtures and supports refugees and asylum seekers in our community. This year's Refugee Week poster has a great photo of Ravi Prasad, who started Parliament on King with his partner, Della, and Hani Abdile, a refugee from South Somalia. Since Ravi and Della started Parliament on King in 2013 in the front rooms of their Newtown terrace, close to 300 people have been trained there in barista skills, food preparation, food hygiene and food service. It is a cafe, bookshop, event space, hospitality training centre, catering business, and welcome space for refugees and asylum seekers. All the food is cooked by chefs who are asylum seekers or refugees and started out as trainees at Parliament on King. They regularly hold community dinners. Parliament on King has been strongly supported from the beginning by the Asylum Seekers Centre, which is also in the Newtown electorate.
