Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is nice to inject a bit of common sense after that rant. I rise to speak about a number of events in my electorate dealing with my significant Muslim community. The first one I would like to tell the House about and commend was a roundtable organised by the Kuraby Mosque, one of the biggest mosques in my electorate. It was organised in particular by Dr Mohammed Abdullah, but also by other representatives who attended. Some 40 to 50 people were invited. I was one of the guests but the chief guest was the foreign minister, Bob Carr. It was great. It was a chance to kick around local issues in Moreton but also significant national and international issues. I particularly commend the questioners. I wish we had had more time. They were very thoughtful, considered and well informed. The foreign minister was certainly able to present a broad range of topics, hopefully to the satisfaction of the questioners.

Another event that I participated in just last Sunday was at the Holland Park Mosque, which is not in my electorate, I stress; it is actually in the electorate of Bonner. However, many of the people who attend the Holland Park Mosque come from my electorate. The Holland Park Mosque is 105 years old. I see the member for Blair in the chamber. He would well know the Deen brothers and the Deen sister. They are very significant stakeholders in the Holland Park Mosque. They are very loyal servants of the LNP but they are very great servants of the community and the international community when it comes to making sure that there is fundraising done if there is a disaster, be it a flood here or a flood in Pakistan or wherever. They are great citizens and I particularly value their contribution. The Holland Park Mosque has great plans ahead. I was pleased to be there with the member for Griffith, Kevin Rudd, who was the guest of honour at the event. It was great event.

On the Sunday before last I was out doing a five-kilometre run, part of the Crescents of Brisbane 10th anniversary event. They have a 2½-kilometre walk and a five-kilometre run. I actually did the run. I should say that I used to have the record three years running for the fastest pusher of a pram but, since my children are now four and eight, I did not wish to try for a fourth attempt at the title, so I went for a run without my children, which was a little bit more fun. It was very well attended.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How did you go? Tell us your time.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will have to look up my time, Member for Blair. I take that suggestion. I will have to find my time. I looked on their webpage and could not find it. Either it was too slow or they did not compile them. The Crescents of Brisbane event is very much a message of engaging with the community but also a healthy lifestyle.

The other event that I attended was with the member for Blair, the honourable parliamentary secretary, and was at Queensland Parliament House. I do not have a lot of good things to say about Queensland Parliament House at the moment, but on this occasion we shared the event with Minister Elmes, the multicultural affairs minister, and Mr Springborg as well. It was a federally funded program. The Muslim community went out to engage with the electors about the election process. They did this in a very clever way in that they had trivia nights about the election process where people turned up and they broke them into federal electorates where they would compete with each other about the electoral process, because the local, state and federal process is quite confusing.

They were four significant events that I have been to recently—all very well attended. These events are an indication of a healthy, democratically engaged, good, strong citizenry in my Muslim community. They come from all over the world. I have a strong Bosnian community. I see the member for Chifley walking into the chamber. I have a Bosnian mosque in my community that is close to being finished and I hope he will come up for the opening. It is a little bit slow but, like many of the mosques in my electorate or close to my electorate, it is their funds that are taking a while to accumulate. (Time expired)