Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There have not been enough nice things said about Australian cricketers in the last little while, so I want to pay tribute to my favourite cricketer of all time, the member for Moreton. Were it not for his bowling spell in the penultimate over, or the little dolly of a catch that he spooned to the midfield off what can only be charitably described as my medium paced bowling, the mighty Rankin team may not have prevailed over Moreton two Sundays ago to take a 2-1 series lead in the annual Moreton-Rankin Unity Cup.

On a more serious note, the Unity Cup is all about building understanding with and within the Muslim communities in our part of Australia, the southern suburbs of Brisbane and Logan City. It is a wonderful day of sun, laughter, tweaked hammies and, yes, a bit of good-natured sledging, but it has a much deeper meaning.

I want to thank my co-captain, Ahsan Assadi, and all our team. I want to thank Graham and his co-captain, Ali Kadri, and the team, including the Rohingya Strikers; the umpires Phil and Steve, back for another year, and Mohammad, who helped out; the staff and volunteers who kept the score, cooked the barbie, cut the oranges and shooed away the plovers; the big unit, Billy Stanlake, from the Queensland Bulls, who dropped in to flip the coin; and the locals who came by to watch as well. But most of all I want to acknowledge the people in my community, the Muslim community and people of all faiths in Moreton and Rankin who want to build understanding, respect and unity between us and not tear it down.