Not one but two Filipino heritage Australians might end up as members of the next Australian Federal Parliament after September 15th.
While Mr. Jaymes Diaz , (Liberal) of Western Sydney is believed to have caught up with the slim polls margin of incumbent member for Greenway Ms Michele Rowlands, the other Filipino heritage candidate Carmen Garcia (Liberal) is starting to draw attention in the Federal seat of Adelaide in South Australia.
Carmen Garcia is running against the electorate’s incumbent Kate Ellis, MP.
These are in the midst of the various polls survey results between Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Leader of the Oppositin Tony Abbot which some in the press clled as “delicately close and critical.”
Both Filipino candidates are not only Filipino heritage candidates, but they are products of the years of community leadership of both of their parents. Mr Jayme Diaz is the eldest of Blacktown City Councillor and solicitor Mr Jess Diaz who has claims to a number of “firsts” titles in the community, including the “first Filipino lawyer”, the “first Filipino councillor of a major Australian city’, and the first president of a Filipino state umbrella association.
Carmen Garcia of Adelaide on the other hand is daughter of Adelaide solicitor Mrs Aida Florendo Garcia, the current president of the Australia-wide Filipino community peak body Filipino Communities Counci of Australia or FILCCA. Solicitor Aida Garcia was one of the founders of the Filipino Settlement and Coordinating Council of South Australia of FSCSA. She served as FSCSA president for several years until her selection to the presidency of the bigger Australia-wide peak body FILCCA.
Carmen has two university degrees and is the coordinator of Multicultural Youth of South Australia (MYSA). She is married to Adam Golding and late last year gave birth to a daughter.
Jaymes Diaz is a solicitor himself and ran in the 2010 election for the seat of Greenway losing only by a thousand and more votes to incumbent MP Michele Rowlands. He worked for many year as coordinator of the family NGO body Diaz Foundation including the yearly beauty pageant Miss Independence Day which served as youth window to showcase Filipino history and culture.
Ms Carmen Garia was for a number of years Youth Coodinator in the Australiawide peak body FILCCA, not to mention her active roles in youth community projects in Adelaide and in South Australia.
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