James Jegasothy: ‘When goat meat in the freezer builds a community’
Suggesting that a community is built by the local butcher having goat meat in his freezer for just one customer seems like a bit of a stretch.
But the fact that someone would go to that much effort to embrace new arrivals to their town is a fond memory for James Jegasothy, Deputy CEO of Multicultural NSW.
“Our butcher did that for my mum,” James says.
James is pretty sure there weren’t many others in Parkes, a small town in central NSW, eating goat meat in the mid-1980s.
“It’s like our butcher thought ‘I’ll make an effort for someone different. I’ll do something different to my normal way of working. I’ll use the skills and the opportunity that I have, to make these people feel more at home’. It is something that has resonated with me.
“It’s that real reminder that having the perfect response to ‘cultural diversity’ can be as simple as trying to understand someone a little different from yourself. In this case, understanding that my mum liked to use goat meat in our dinners.”
James’ parents had arrived in Parkes in 1986 having fled the civil war in Sri Lanka.
“My dad was the President of a human rights organisation in Trincomalee in Sri Lanka’s east, and he was a voice for Tamil people. This made him a target.
“My family fled Sri Lanka following the near death of my younger brother.
“I think my parents wanted to go somewhere away from politics and war. They wanted to go somewhere for some peace. They had spent so many years living in fear and being at risk of violence. But of course, they weren’t the kind of people who just lived for themselves.
“They just got super busy in their new home in Australia. My dad accepted the call to be the Minister at Parkes Uniting Church. They started working in the community, building up the church, joining Rotary and even encouraging tourism for the region.”
Being a trained counsellor and community leader in Sri Lanka, James’ dad established innovative, and community-led responses to engage young people who lacked opportunities and were at risk of social and health issues.
Growing up in Parkes presented a mix of experiences for James.
“Parkes in the 80s wasn’t culturally diverse. But I’ve always believed that diversity doesn’t automatically lead to a sense of community. We all know of the great benefits diversity provides, particularly socially and economically, but I am talking about inclusion and belonging.
“Sometimes I wasn’t allowed into other people’s homes or included in their birthday parties. Often it was the parents that were a barrier to me being allowed to visit friends and that was quite embarrassing and quite hurtful for me as a child. And I still remember that stuff quite deeply.
“But there were others who completely embraced us. I made some great friends, including the boys who lived next door, Thomas and Walter.
“They helped me learn English and we did the things that kids did, learning to ride a bike, catching yabbies, running around the neighbourhood, being Ninja Turtles. I did Little Athletics and joined the Scouts.
“And my dad was embraced. He was someone who brought something different to the church, who was going to preach differently, who had an accent, who talked in a different way, and these were the days when people went to church. People went, and he grew the church and established youth programs.
“I think while those who come to Australia as refugees bring diversity, perhaps they also give the people here a kind of freedom as well.
“It gives them a freedom to think differently, a freedom to challenge some of the thoughts they might have had, which they may not have challenged otherwise, and the opportunity to learn from someone with life experiences outside their own.
“And with Dad, they could do this in a safe way because he welcomed their questions and the discussions.
“All I really wanted was to fit in, so I gradually stopped speaking Tamil. Besides my parents, I didn’t really have anyone to speak it with. It was like if I did speak Tamil it took away a bit of my freedom to be like my friends.
“When I think back about that now, that loss of language, it highlights that there’s limits to what freedom looks like for people who have arrived as refugees.”
After James finished his high schooling and degrees in law and politics, working in refugee advocacy was a natural choice.
“Dad was still on the front line so to speak, visiting those in detention and engaging people with counselling or social support, finding jobs and accommodation.
“It was a natural thing for me to work in this area too.”
In 2012, James and his wife moved to Perth, and he joined the Australian Red Cross, working with asylum seekers who had been released from detention and had suffered torture and trauma. James was managing a program that supported people who had been institutionalised into independence, accommodation and services in the community.
“I could see the power issues at play in these situations. With us – whether its government or non-government organisations – controlling the welfare and supports for refugees and the strict processes we had to follow in such tight timeframes.
“It was again a reminder that there are limits to the freedom people find when they leave their home country.
“My mum left her highly successful career and senior position in banking – a rare thing for a woman to be doing in Sri Lanka at the time – when they were forced to leave. My parents lost friendships, their community, the things that make you who you are.
“My dad never saw his mother again. Freedom comes at a cost.”
James left the Red Cross in 2014 to take on a short-term role with the Office of Multicultural Interests (WA Government), seeing this as an opportunity to understand government from the inside.
He spent the next 10 years providing leadership and strategic direction, advising the WA Minister and Government on multiculturalism, including developing policies and programs for the state. He also held board roles, providing strategic leadership for a range of organisations.
And now James has brought his experience back to NSW, taking up the role of Deputy CEO with Multicultural NSW at the beginning of 2025.
“NSW is an incredibly diverse state. Many of our households are diverse. We have a diversity of world views, of cultures and traditions. Diverse opinions on everything from politics to sports.
“It’s what we do with that, how we care about others and about how we engage with that diversity, with empathy and respect, that is important.
“There’s this perception that people need to know how to say the ‘right’ thing all the time.
“But it’s about being open and willing to learn. In my experience, it’s also been about the small, daily actions that make someone feel included in a community. And yes, sometimes it’s about having some goat meat in your freezer.”
For more information about how the NSW Government works to improve the experiences of people from refugee and refugee-like backgrounds, visit the NSW Settlement Strategy.