Ayubowan president Gamini Airiwardane and greetings to my Parliamentary colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is my pleasure to be here with you today to help celebrate the 61st anniversary of Sri Lanka's independence.

I would like to thank the United Sri Lanka Association, Auckland branch for inviting me to this important celebration.

Today's anniversary marks one of the most important days in Sri Lankan history as it stands as remembrance of the people's enduring struggle for independence from the British Empire and Sri Lanka's emergence as an independent nation.

However, on a more sombre note, this year's celebrations may have been dampened given the current climate in Sri Lanka.

Members of New Zealand's expanding Sri Lankan community are naturally concerned about the safety and well being of their family members in Sri Lanka.

For those of you with family members caught up in the conflict, my thoughts are with you and your families and I want you to know that the New Zealand Government does take your concerns seriously.

We have called for an urgent end to the conflict.

But it is my hope that today, on Sri Lankan Independence Day, the entire Sri Lankan community within New Zealand - whether they be Sinhalese or Tamil - can come together for a peaceful celebration to mark this most remarkable day, reflecting New Zealand. Our country is a society of social cohesion built on mutual respect and tolerance.

The Sri Lankan community has a long history in New Zealand, with the earliest settlers coming here prior to 1874. Then, during the 1950s, many more arrived here as students under the Colombo plan and formed a thriving and vibrant Sri Lankan community.

According to the latest Census figures, the number of people in New Zealand with ancestral ties to Sri Lanka has grown to more than 8,000.

Sri Lankans who have come to this land have certainly settled successfully here and it is a well established fact that Sri Lankans in New Zealand are highly likely to be well qualified and well employed - not to mention the recent achievement of scoring the highest wicket score in one day cricket.

Large numbers of you have been the back bone of our health sector as expert health professionals. One of the priorities of Office of Ethnic Affairs is to address access to health and the health issues affecting Asian New Zealanders.

I will call on the wealth of expertise in your community to assist in addressing these issues.

Also, your role - along with the wider New Zealand community - in dealing with the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami has been tremendous and the support and help you continue to deliver to the devastated areas is nothing short of amazing.

Not only have many of you contributed to the social, economic and cultural enrichment of our country - you have also played a very important role in connecting both New Zealand and Sri Lanka as friendly nations.

The thriving Sri Lankan community is proof that New Zealand is a truly diverse nation. As New Zealanders our country is formed on bi-cultural heritage and developing into a multicultural society today.

Our identity as a nation has been woven from many strands that we value equally.

I encourage each and every one of you to continue to share celebrations of your culture and heritage with all New Zealanders and assist our Government in making this country a place where diversity is valued and reflected in our national identity. 

Yesterday was a wonderful example of celebrating throughout the city on Waitangi Day, with Albert Park also being lit up last night for the annual Chinese Lantern Festival.

The Sri Lankan community is among 12 percent of New Zealanders who are identified as "ethnic communities" and the Government recognises the contributions made by all our ethnic communities that continue to highlight the prosperity of New Zealand.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs, represented by Bernard Gomes, Ethnic Advisor,  is there to provide advice about issues affecting Ethnic people in this country and serves as a point of contact between Government and ethnic people. It is also there to ensure that ethnic communities are kept well informed about the issues that affect New Zealanders on the whole.

There will be a change in our engagement to more than keeping the ethnic communities informed. I want to see ethnic communities helping to shape government policies on law and order and finding an economic solution to the current challenge.

One of the services provided by the Office of Ethnic Affairs to ensure all this happens is Language Line - a telephone interpreting service designed to ensure that Ethnic communities can access information and government services.

It's about ensuring equality in access to information and public services by removing the language barrier often felt by ethnic communities.

Language Line offers Sinhala and Tamil, as well as 37 other languages including several South Asian dialects, connecting members of many ethnic communities with about 60 agencies, including health boards, PHOs and schools who participate in the service.

The best part of the Language Line is that it is free to ethnic communities.

The Office of Ethnic Affairs works in collaboration with other agencies to ensure that the needs of ethnic people's are reflected in policy development and service delivery.

It also works towards building capacity in the community to empower people and organisations to set their own priorities and to participate actively in the wider New Zealand society.

Once again, thank you for inviting me to this great occasion. 

Estuti and thank you to you all.