The Queensland state government has given Hindus $500,000 in taxpayer funding to build a cultural precinct on the Gold Coast as part of a $5 million multicultural grants program.
Liberal National Party MP Sam O’Connor announced last week the Gold Coast Hindu Cultural Association was the beneficiary of a Multicultural Connects grant, and posed for photos at the site in Arundel with members of the association and Multiculturalism Minister Fiona Simpson.
“This has been a dream of theirs for more than a decade … the Gold Coast has a proud Hindu community and this will finally give them a space to call their own,” he said.
The grants program provides one-off matched funding of up to half a million dollars for the construction or upgrade of infrastructure for immigrant groups, and Ms Simpon said last year that Queensland’s “multicultural communities suffered during a decade of decline under Labor”.
The Hindu cultural precinct will include an events space, offices, dining facilities and a kitchen, and will host events and educational activities for the Hindu community, although Mr O’Connor said it would be open to all.
“This part of the facility we’re funding will be available to everyone, but there’s nothing wrong with spaces that are also hubs for particular groups of Queenslanders,” he told The Indian Sun.
“There’s not just one type of community organisation or faith-based space. There are many because people have different backgrounds and can belong to many different groups.”
“People should be able to gather with others from their community and celebrate their culture. I’m proud to have supported them to achieve this dream of creating a cultural precinct.”
The Multicultural Connect Grants Program will hand out $5 million over four years to “community-led capital infrastructure projects like building or upgrading facilities for multicultural groups”, with $1.25 million already allocated during the 2025-26 round.
The LNP government also provides funding for multicultural events under the Celebrating Multicultural Queensland (CMQ) program and for multicultural events under the Celebrating Multicultural Queensland (CMQ) program.
Header image: Left, right, Labor MPs at the site of the precinct (Facebook).
