Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Australian way is to stand beside a mate in need, and we all know that Australian farmers and their families are doing it tough at the moment, struggling to pay the bills and buy feed in the face of a horror drought with no end in sight. Jasvinder Sidhu, a community activist in the Australian Indian community in Melbourne's west in my electorate, saw this suffering and wanted to act. Many members of the Australian Indian community come from agricultural families and understand what it's like to suffer through a drought. So Jasvinder and I set out to raise $10,000 to deliver a semitrailer of hay to send to Australian farmers as a gesture of solidarity from multicultural Melbourne. We're already three-quarters of the way there, and we hope to reach our target at a fundraising event on 13 October.

One of the major donors to date has been Ravinder Kaur. In the midst of grieving for the loss of her only son, Ravinder established the Rehmat Sandhu Foundation to honour his memory. The Rehmat Sandhu Foundation raises money for worthy initiatives both in Australia and abroad. It raises cancer awareness, encourages local residents to donate organs and blood, and does countless other projects that help people who are most vulnerable.

I've seen the Australian Indian community in Melbourne's west come together to help people doing it tough over and over again since I became an MP. They are an incredibly generous, public-minded community and are always willing to help their fellow Australians in need. They are an incredible advertisement for the success of Australian multiculturalism, and I congratulate Jasvinder and Ravinder.

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