International Links and Sister Cities

Overview

The Sister City program started in the USA in 1956. Today, Australian cities and towns have over 500 sister city affiliations throughout the world with the number increasing every year.

We have 4 Sister City partnerships and an agreement with the League of Cities, Philippines.

Our relationships

Porirua City, New Zealand

• partner since 1984

• is situated on the west coast of the North Island, just north of Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city

• the City has approximately 54,100 residents and offers a variety of water sports, plus numerous cycle ways and walkways.

Suseong-Gu, Daegu City, Republic of Korea

• partner since 1994

• is situated on the south-east of the Korean Peninsula 300 kilometres from the capital city of Seoul.

• the city has approximately 460,000 residents and occupies an area of around 76.47km

Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, Peoples Republic of China

• partner since 2003

• is situated about 400 kilometres south of Beijing and is known as the ‘Water City’

• over 1.2m people live in its metropolitan area

• is a State Level historical and cultural city with 2,500 years of history

Liverpool Plains Shire Council, NSW

• partner since 2005

• is situated 360 kilometres from Blacktown in the North West of NSW

• has a population of over 7,000 people and is primarily an agricultural region

• the Council Administrative Centre is situated in Quirindi, the main town in the shire.

League of Cities of the Philippines

• partner since 2010

• has over 143 cities as members of the League

• each city is represented by its Mayor

What are we doing

Pacific Test Fan Day in Blacktown

In partnership with the National Rugby League and as part of our Sister Cities link to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, we hosted the 2017 Pacific Test Fan Day at Francis Park Blacktown from 4 to 8 pm on Wednesday, 3 May and what a FANtastic evening was had by all those who attended.

Working closely with former NRL player Frank Puletua, Senior Manager–Pacific Strategy, the attraction of the top players from the rugby league teams of England, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands and Samoa in the heartland of Western Sydney drew over 5,000 fans in a family friendly atmosphere. Stalls, a dedicated activation zone, central stage, entertainment, DJ, drummers and performance groups complemented the appearance of players, coaches and officials from the 6 team participating in the Pacific Test series.

The Mayor of Blacktown, Cr Stephen Bali addressed the large crowd and was even photographed with giant Tongan winger Manu (The Beast) Vatuvei.

The photographs of the night show the excitement and enjoyment of the evening.

Pyeongtaek Noongar visit to Tyndale Christian School

Tyndale Christian School at Blacktown hosted a performance on Friday 31 March by Pyeongtaek Noongar, a traditional professional dance group from South Korea. An enthusiastic audience of 700 pupils and staff attended this outstanding performance. For highlights check out the photographs. 

Visit from Gwacheon City Council, South Korea

We recently hosted a delegation of 9 officers from Gwacheon City Council, South Korea. The group were in Australia as a reward for their outstanding community service. A briefing session was conducted by our Manager of Events and Sister Cities and our Sister Cities Project Officer with focus on customer service and complaint handling.

Visit and performances by the Le Moana collective from New Zealand

Blacktown was privileged to host a visit from Le Moana in December 2016.

The Le Moana collective are graduates of the internationally renowned Whitireia Performing Arts who have been professionally trained in Māori Haka from New Zealand, Siva from Sāmoa, Ura from the Cook Islands and the New Zealand Contemporary Dance. The group was established as a vessel for cultural enrichment and as a platform for the development of Pacific Heritage and Contemporary dance on a locally and internationally.

Their performance in the Bowman Hall on Tuesday, 13 December with over 400 patrons of 1918, winner of the critics’ choice and top box office awards at the 2016 San Diego International Fringe Festival, was outstanding. The production explored the effects of the devastating Spanish influenza pandemic that killed over 25% of the Samoan population.

The group also conducted a workshop for students from Blacktown Girls High School which was well attended.

See some of the highlights of the Le Moana performance and workshop. Wonderful to watch and participate.

We’ll see if we can bring them back sometime soon or maybe in 2018 for an encore of 1918. 

Hungarian President visits Featherdale Wildlife Park, Blacktown

On Friday, 11 November 2016, the Hungarian President His Excellency Janos Ader accompanied by the first lady Anita and the Australian Hungarian Ambassador, Dr Attila Gruber visited Featherdale Wildlife Park, Blacktown. Glenn Willis, Chief Executive Officer from Elanor Investors hosted the delegation.

The Mayor of Blacktown, Cr Stephen Bali presented a gift to the President in recognition of his visit. The delegation enjoyed a tour of the Wildlife Park and were able to get up close and personal to the animals.

Remembrance Day formalities were observed during the visit with bugler Bill Belcher from the Blacktown City Band performing the Last Post.      

Dietrich-Bonhoeffer Gymnasium Middle School (Germany) visit Mitchell High School, Blacktown  

Mitchell High School welcomed teachers and students from Dietrich-Bonhoeffer Gymnasium Middle School (Germany) in October 2016 as part of their Sister School partnership. We hosted a reception for the visitors, teachers, staff and billeting families from Mitchell High School.

How to get involved

Should you be interested in receiving more information, please contact our International Links and Sister Cities Team on 02 9839 6000.

The committee

The International Links and Sister Cities Committee comprises of the following people:

Mayor Cr Stephen Bali and appointed Councillors:

• Deputy Mayor, Cr Tony Bleasdale

• Cr Susai Benjamin

• Cr Brad Bunting

• Cr Carol Israel

• Cr Moninder Singh

• Cr Kevin Gillies.   

Community representatives and current and former Youth Ambassadors:

Local service and registered club representatives:

Appointment to the Committee is for the term of Council.