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

I rise to acknowledge the many community groups in my electorate, including Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese and others, who have welcomed the Lunar New Year, the Chinese New Year. Obviously, part of that time is spent re-engaging and connecting with family but, in the last week or so, it has also been about reaching out to the broader community by way of celebration in this the Year of the Monkey.

I particularly acknowledge the Taiwan Friendship Association of Queensland, Billy Lowe and the many people who helped organise the event on Saturday, including Professor Chao who chewed my ear for quite a length of time about the recent elections in Taiwan and the President-elect Tsai Ing-wen's victory and how orderly that process was.

I also attended the Brisbane Chinese Cultural Festival event held in King George Square, organised by the Mainland Chinese Society of Queensland. Unfortunately, King George Square was incredibly hot on Saturday as there are no trees there at the moment, but the choir put on a great performance. The Lions Club of Brisbane Chinese also combined it with a 20-year celebration event. Well done Johnson Chen and the founding Lions Club members from 20 years ago and all those people at the Brisbane Chinese Lions Club.

Lastly, I want to mention the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation that has done great work in my electorate. Patrick and his team of volunteers always look immaculate in their uniforms, but I particularly thank them for five years ago when they were filthy in the mud doing great work in my electorate. (Time expired)