News

Benalla Migrants Association welcomes stamp-out-racism walk

By Benalla Ensign

Jan 9, 2023

Raising awareness: Benalla Migrants Association members Punarji Gunaratne and Sam Epage with anti-racism campaigner Peter Elzer (centre). Photo by Contributed

Benalla Migrants Association (BMA) committee members Sam Epage, Parminder Singh and Cr Punarji Gunaratne hosted anti-racism campaigner Peter Elzer for dinner at the Tandoori Hut restaurant on Wednesday, January 4.

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BMA president Cr Gunaratne said the committee was happy to support Mr Elzer’s cause and appreciated him offering his time to discuss his campaign against racism.

“We talked about Peter’s campaign, the motivation behind (his 2200km) walk and experiences of racism in Benalla over a delicious tandoori dinner,” Cr Gunaratne said.

“In addition to his own and unique campaign, Peter also talked about using his walk to promote the Racism not Welcome campaign from NSW.”

BMA is an official supporter of ‘Racism. It Stops With Me’, a campaign from the Australian Human Rights Commission.

“And we have taken important steps to identify and talk about racism as it is experienced by people in Benalla,” Cr Gunaratne said.

“We are an anti-racist organisation, and we are working to create a space to safely talk about racism in Benalla.

“Racism is a complex issue that affects everyone and the volume of campaigns to address the issue speak to the depth of the problem throughout Australia.”

Cr Gunaratne said there had been some concerning findings from the Benalla Rural City Council Youth Strategy Consultation, with racism, homophobia and body image issues being significant concerns for local youths.

He believes it is important to address these issues in order to make Benalla a more welcoming, comfortable and inclusive town for everyone.