Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I want to talk about the Muslim Leadership Program, which is an annual program coordinated by the Centre for Dialogue at La Trobe University and the Islamic Council of Victoria. The Centre for Dialogue is a major initiative of La Trobe University. It was founded by Emeritus Professor Joseph Camilleri and inaugurated in August 2006. The Muslim Leadership Program is now in its ninth year and it offers young people an opportunity to come to Canberra and to network with Australia's leading shapers of public policy and opinion in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney, as well as engaging with future thought leaders from Muslim communities in Australia, South-East Asia and the Middle East.

I am very proud to have hosted this program. For most of the nine years it has been running, I have had the opportunity to host it. This year in particular I was honoured to welcome to Parliament House the members of the Muslim Leadership Program for 2014. They are, Mr Deputy Speaker—and you will attest to this because you were present during some of those discussions—10 exceptionally talented and bright young Australians of Muslim faith who come from very diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and professions.

I would like to take this opportunity to name the participants for this year. Ms Reyhana Ahmednur is a student at the University of Melbourne, with an interest in social enhancement and education in ethnic communities, with specific interest in the Oromo people. Mr Mohammad Ali Baqiri isa 23-year-old second-year law student at Victoria University. Mohammad is a refugee himself and a refugee advocate. He has a passion for human rights and learning as much as he can about Australia's refugee policy. Ms Aisha Dani is a start-up manager with an interest in business education and social enterprise. Ms Subriah Esharc is a final-year law student and hopes to one day pursue a career in brand management. Mr Abdul Hammoud isa salesperson and an artist who is interested in education policies that affect minorities and marginalized communities. Mr Mohammad Ali Hijzi isa university prison chaplain. Ms Amena Ziard isa university student at Monash and editor of the magazine. Ms Fatima Hoblos participated. Mr Wael Mohamed is a youth worker. And Mr Rueben Street is an award-winning filmmaker whose film Once Upon a Mountain received an award for best social benefit documentary in the Eugene International Film Festival 2013. I want to congratulate these young people for being here. We had a great discussion. All members who participated in those discussions learnt a lot from them and they had an opportunity to voice their concerns to us as political leaders.

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