New South Wales Labor, the Liberals and the Greens are all trying to conquer votes from the state's migrant communities, Michael Kenny reports.
NSW Labor has promised to double funding for community language schools to $8 million a year.
It has also elevated the status of the Community Relations Commission, allowing the multicultural body to work directly with government ministers.
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NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says a re-elected Labor government would build on some of these initiatives in partnership with the state's migrant communities.
“Well certainly this Labor government has recognised the strength of the cultural diversity in Sydney and New South Wales and that diversity has enabled us to punch above our weight on a world scale,” Keneally said.
“That enabled us to deliver the fastest growing economy in Australia and the one with the second lowest unemployment rate. That's because our population is multi-skilled, it's diverse, it's multi-lingual.”
Ms Keneally claims her government was the first in Australia to enshrine the principles of multiculturalism in law, and she says as a migrant from the United States, this makes her particularly proud.
She says a re-elected Labor government would also reward outstanding migrants through providing a 120 thousand dollar boost for the Community Relations Commission's Volunteering Awards.
The state opposition leader Barry O'Farrell says a Liberal government would work harder to capitalise on the state's cultural diversity as one of its greatest economic strengths.
The Liberal leader says he supports strong migration to NSW, as long as there is adequate infrastructure for a growing population.
“The state government doesn't control migration. The state government can't influence the number of people who come into New South Wales each year.”
“But what we can do and what we will do is ensure that the people who come are adequately served with the sorts of services that they deserve and secondly we'll try to promote more balanced development across Sydney, but also across New South Wales,” he added.
One party that is campaigning strongly against over-development in the election is the Greens, who currently hold four seats in the state's upper house.
They are hoping to win at least two lower house seats in this election in Sydney's inner western suburbs.
Meanwhile, the Greens have called for tougher laws to be introduced in the state to prevent racial and religious discrimination.
They want existing laws changed that allow some faith-based organisations to only hire staff from a particular faith.
Greens Upper House MP David Shoebridge says the party would also push for new laws to make it easier for migrants to get overseas qualifications recognised in Australia.
"We want to work towards having a seamless national system, so that we would work with other states, so that when overseas qualifications are registered in one state, that automatically flows on to other states across the federation,” David Shoebridge told SBS.
“But we also want to have in place some additional resources in place at a NSW level to make it much easier for migrants who come here often with world class qualifications from their home countries-to make it much easier for them to get those qualifications recognised here in New South Wales”.
The NSW Ethnic Communities Council said it is pleased with the commitment shown by the major parties and the Greens to promoting the state's cultural diversity.
But the council says it would like to receive more government funding for its programs.
The council's chairman Jack Passaris says his organisation has had nearly $200 million cut from its budget since Labor won office in 1995.
He says the council currently receives around $80,000 in state government funding every year.
Mr Passaris says this is partly compared with the $500,000 in annual funding which the Victorian Ethnic Communities Council receives from its state government.
But despite these shortcomings, Mr Passaris says he is hopeful that the state's cultural diversity will be a valued asset, regardless of which side wins the election.
'Multiculturalism is something that is flourishing, not only in this state, but generally around Australia,” Mr Passaris said.
