AUSTRALIANS show support and love through actions more than words, according to Wangaratta’s Australia Day ambassador.
“We help our neighbours in bushfires and floods,” Alice Pung said. “This is the Australian way.”
The Asian-Australian author, who lives in Melbourne, was honoured to address about 500 people in shady King George Gardens.
“You can’t summarise what it means to be Australian in one speech like you can if you are an American because they have the Bill of Rights,” Ms Pung said.
“We can’t pin-point exactly what it means to be Australian because we are so diverse, but it has something to do with our community spirit which is evident here today.”
Ms Pung said she had developed a love of writing at school and from her grandmother who was a great storyteller.
“I went to school not speaking a word of English,” she said.
“So every word I own comes from the teachers who taught me from primary school, all the way through to university.”