7 hours Ago By Kat Wong
"Ni haos" and "xie xies" have greeted Anthony Albanese during a meeting with young members of the Chinese community. or signup to continue reading Like many diaspora kids, the prime minister was dropped off at Mandarin school on Saturday morning, where he spruiked a commitment to help children from diverse communities maintain their mother tongue. The children were dressed up for the occasion, adorned with accessories that matched Barbie or Minecraft shirts, while one young student donned a blazer as Mr Albanese came by.
"Ni hao, prime minister," the students said in unison, greeting him in Mandarin. Asked if they loved language school, the class replied with a fragmented "yes". Outside the classroom, excited parents clamoured to try and snap photos of their kids shaking hands with the prime minister.
With a week until polling day, Mr Albanese has promised to spend $25 million on 600 community schools if Labor is re-elected at the May 3 election. The New Century Chinese Language School, which he visited on Saturday morning, is in the east Melbourne electorate of Chisholm, currently held by Labor on a 3.3 per cent margin.
Labor will also earmark $5 million to fund Asian language learning and help students of any background become more fluent. "These young Australians next to me here are our bridge to the region," Mr Albanese said. "We need to invest in them because investing in them is investing in our future.
" Australia's ties with China have been a key focus during Mr Albanese's first term. His government successfully engaged in discussions with figures in Beijing to ensure China lifted its trade restrictions on Australian products such as rock lobster and barley. The China-Australia relationship remains in the spotlight as US tariffs force countries to turn to other trade partners.
Mr Albanese also highlighted the benefits of multiculturalism, a day after far-right figures were filmed booing the Welcome to Country and making racist comments at ANZAC Day ceremonies. "I regard Australia as being a microcosm for the world - where we live side-by-side with different backgrounds, different faiths, different origins, different cultures," he told reporters. "I speak out constantly against the far-right and consistently promote multiculturalism.
"We have a great society in Australia - we need to cherish it, nurture it, not take it for granted." Mr Albanese, who was confronted by members of the far-right at his hotel earlier during the campaign, urged mainstream politics to speak out against these figures. "We need to take these threats seriously because they are real," he said.
Hundreds of thousands of Australians have already cast their votes through the mail or at early voting centres. Polls are tipping in Labor's favour, although Mr Albanese has tried not to get ahead of himself, previously pointing to Labor's shock election loss in 2019. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.
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