Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Wednesday week, I had the opportunity to attend the auspicious Lunar New Year celebrations at the Vietnamese Buddhist Phuoc Hue Temple. In fact, this is fifth occasion that I have had the privilege to join in on the festivities with the countdown to Lunar New Year, a very significant and important celebration for Vietnamese and Chinese Australians.

At the Phuoc Hue Temple I was joined by more than 15,000 Vietnamese Australians, who came together to pray for good health and prosperity for the Year of the Goat. As well as various Vietnamese community leaders, I was joined by parliamentary colleagues. Community leaders included: Dr Thang Ha, President of the Vietnamese Community in Australia; Dr David Tang, Dr Hao Vu and Dr Vinh Tran from the Australian Vietnamese Aged Care Services; and not to forget the great work of Mr Quang Luu, from Vietface TV, and a good friend of mine, Dr Lieu Vinh Binh. We were entertained by the magnificent lion dancing by Dong Tam and by the spectacular fireworks that followed, that lit the sky up at midnight.

As the federal member for Fowler, I am honoured to be able to attend an event such as this, that really celebrates the very essence of what it is to be a part of our multicultural community in this country. While I get to attend many cultural events, the cultural richness of the Lunar New Year is something that I really admire as it showcases our rich diversity and multiculturalism.

Amongst the many traditions associated with Lunar New Year, such as handing out the red pockets to children for good luck, I have also adopted a personal practice of visiting at least 10 Buddhist temples, a custom maintained very much by the Vietnamese and Chinese people in this country. My temple visits started on the first day of the new year and concluded the day after. I visited the Buddhist temples in Cabramatta, Bonnyrigg, Canley Vale and St Johns Park.

In addition, I also had the pleasure of attending the celebrations at the Chinese Mingyue Lay Buddhist Temple hosted by the Australian Chinese Buddhist Society. I personally thank President Vincent Kong and Chairman James Chan, together with Jensen Tran, Tony Trinh and the whole of the organising committee for their dedication to the Australian Chinese community. Their religious work and charitable endeavours have brought my local community closer together. The Lunar New Year is a festival that is obviously a fantastic celebration, and it is a celebration for all Australians in my community.

This weekend, I will also attend the Tet Festival, one of the most popular events hosted by the Vietnamese Community in Australia group. President, Dr Thang Ha and his management committee, comprising Dinh Tran, Janice Le, Peter Nguyen, Davy Nguyen and Maria Tran, have done a tremendous job ever since their appointment. They are a young team, but are making a difference for the better in our community. I wish them all the best for the festival this weekend, which will see something like 60 thousand people attend the celebration over the three-day period. My grandchildren particularly enjoy this because I get to take them and they wear traditional Vietnamese dress—ao dai—

Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've seen them there!

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Hughes has actually seen them there; he knows how much they enjoy the Vietnamese culture!

We live in a very remarkable society, which has come to be defined by our cultural diversity. Lunar New Year is an important part of that and truly reflects Australia's multicultural spirit.

In closing, I would like to end by wishing all Australians celebrating the Lunar New Year a prosperous and peaceful year. The Year of the Goat is traditionally associated with hope, peace and tranquillity, and I hope it will bring good luck, health and happiness to all those families.

To the Vietnamese families I say: chuc mung nam moi! And to my Chinese families I say: sun nin pal lok!