Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As Diwali comes around again I would like to take this opportunity to wish all those in my community who celebrate the Festival of Light—the Hindus, the Sikhs and the Jains—a very happy and harmonious Diwali. Diwali symbolises the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance—all the great battles that take place within us. Last year, I joined the community at real celebrations in actual places: in Westmead, organised by the Darcy Road Public School P? at the Little India Fair in Harris Park, organised by the Council of Indian Australians; in Wentworthville, hosted by Cumberland council; and in Silverwater with the Sydney Baha'i Centre. But this year will be different. Celebrations have been scaled back or they're moving online to be COVID-safe. Honestly, I have a few new saris, so it's a bit of a disaster for me not to be actually going! Seriously, I will be sad to miss the Dwali celebrations in Wentworthville on 29 October next week, put on my three great local organisations, the Karabi Community and Development Services, Boronia Multicultural Services, and Sewa Australia.

It's easy to be caught up in our everyday lives and we forget to take the time to remember that we all have the power to choose to be kind, considerate and compassionate, and this is what Deepavali is all about. I'm lucky enough to live in a community that celebrates all types of cultures and religions, and our celebration of Deepavali is a very special part of who we are. A young friend of mine often says to me, and I say it to my community now: you be you in all your glory. Celebrate this wonderful event and have a very happy Deepavali.

The Western Sydney Awards for Business Excellence will be announced on Friday 20 November. The WSABEs were started by the Parramatta Chamber of Commerce in 1990, so this is their 30th birthday. They are well and truly part of the landscape these days and everyone wants to win one. I've been luck to have been on the judging panel for the awards for a couple of years running and was blown away once again by the strength of our local businesses. I want to mention just some of the amazing finalists, some of which I judged and some of which were in other categories, but they are wonderful. Adaptas is a finalist in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Excellence in Export award for advanced manufacturing of scientific instruments for export. Adactin, a software consulting company that tests for companies across the public and private sector, is a finalist in EnergyAustralia Excellence in Business. People At Their Best, consultants that help organisations and their leaders develop and build capacity to achieve their business goals, is a finalist in the City of Parramatta Excellence in Customer Service award. WestWords, which promotes and encourages reading, writing and story-making by and for children and young people living in Western Sydney through workshops, fellowships, residencies and support for writers, is a finalist in two categories: Commonwealth Bank Excellence in Arts and Culture, and AAA City Removalist Outstanding Business Leader, for executive director Michael Campbell. I want to thank the Parramatta Chamber of Commerce for providing this platform to recognise and celebrate the extraordinary contribution of local businesses. Every time I judge these awards, I'm astonished by just how good many of our local businesses are.

A young woman approached my office recently to express her horror at the government's increase in fees for humanities and the arts, up to somewhere between $40,000 and $58,000 now. She was the first person in her family to enter university, in 1988, the last time the youth employment rate was as high as it is now. As a young woman from a single-parent, low-income family, she said the cost of a uni degree then was a huge pressure and that her degree cost a third of the cost proposed in this legislation. She said Commonwealth funding enabled her to commence an arts degree before ultimately completing a bachelor of media, a diploma of education, a masters degree and a PhD. Well done! She said that this path out of low SES, out of limited prospects and out of a very small understanding of the world only occurred due to those first two years of a bachelor of arts degree. Now a mother herself, she fears what these changes will mean for her daughter. She told me, 'The hopes I have for her future, like the hopes of many parents, come from a hope that the country she is growing up in values education, not just for job outcomes but because all young people deserve access to education that broadens their mind and enriches their potential to contribute to their communities. How right she is. The government has got this wrong and so many families in my community know it.

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