Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, I had the great honour of attending the Sikh new year multicultural celebration as well as the Hindu Holi festival, or the festival of colours. The Sikh new year starts in Nanakshahi year 548. It starts on 14 March every year. It is an important event for the Sikh community. The event I attended was part of the World Sikh Conference being held in Melbourne. Given there were so many people at the event, and its importance to the Sikh community, I was honoured to be invited by the Supreme Sikh Council of Australia. The Supreme Sikh Council is a not-for-profit organisation that has worked tirelessly in our community for the past six years doing a variety of things from organising large-scale blood donation, food donation drives, delivering multicultural programs and educational seminars and providing and serving food for homeless people in our community. It was a great night of celebration. I was joined by a member of the Provincial parliament of Ontario in Canada. Mr Jagmeet Singh, along with the former head of the highest shrine, Giani Kewal Singh, and presidents and secretaries of the Australian Gurdwaras and Sikh organisations from around the world. I would like to thank Harikirat Singh, the General Secretary and convener of the Sikh new year celebrations for the work that he and his team undertook to put on an amazing event. As they say: 'Wahe Guruji ka Khalsa. Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.' I probably mashed that up, but I had a crack at it. The Sikh community, when you look Sikh values, very much blends in side by side with Australian values of mateship, fairness and equality. There was great organisation, it was a great evening and I had a ball.

I continued my Indian experience at Holi, the festival of colours, which is a festival that is important to Hindus. Around the world, millions come together to celebrate the festival of colours, and I was proud to be a part of this event that Australia held on the weekend. Holi is important for Hindus but it is also a great example for all cultures of the importance of celebrating. It is a festival of joy and gives us a message of friendship and goodwill.

I would like to thank my friend Guri Singh and the Australian multicultural organisation in Melbourne for inviting me to participate in the festival of colours. One thing I did learn is not to buy a brand-new white shirt when you are going to a colour festival where they colour you in different colours and you end up looking like the Partridge family bus. However, it was a sensational day where there were people from all faiths and from all cultures getting together and celebrating in Craigieburn. The kids and everyone had a ball and it was an exciting day. It really showed the value of multiculturalism to this country. Rather than doing what we would normally be doing on a Sunday, we were all out there having fun, getting coloured, having a ball, listening to music, trying different foods and meeting up with our friends and our neighbours, who we hardly see. It was such a good time. I still have to get the car cleaned down. It is covered in different colours, but it was the best way to spend a weekend.