Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, 9 September I attended the sixth Australian National Hindu Conference, organised by Vishva Hindu Parishad Australia and held at the Adelaide Convention Centre. I was joined by many dignitaries and parliamentarians, including federal colleagues Senator Penny Wong and the member for Hindmarsh, Steve Georganas, as well as South Australian Governor Hieu Van Le.

Forty Hindu associations from across Australia participated in the conference, including Hindus from India, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Bhutan and Nepal. Australia's Hindu community is making remarkable progress with its settlement in Australia and its contribution to Australian life. The Australian Hindu population is currently around 440,000, and over the past 10 years Hinduism has become the fastest-growing religion in Australia. Hindu contribution extended across all walks of Australian life, but I particularly acknowledge the focus Hindus have had on professional and postgraduate professions. Professional and higher education levels amongst Hindus greatly exceed the national average, and it is a great credit to the Hindu people that they place such importance on education. Through those professions, the Hindu community has enriched, strengthened and advanced Australia. Simultaneously, the Hindu community has initiated its own community participation programs, including but not limited to education, culture, sport, children's programs, welfare and the environment. It's remarkable how varied is the input of Hindus in Australian everyday life.

VHP is a not-for-profit community organisation that embraces a theme that the world is one large family. That couldn't be more evident than in today's world, where we constantly talk about globalisation. This year's conference theme was 'Strengthening Communities, Stronger Australia'. The theme was so appropriate and so relevant. None of us live in isolation. We live in communities where each of us contributes to our own life and the lives of others. It is our collective contribution that creates our society and all the benefits that come to us. Importantly, when we are united our collective contribution will strengthen not only communities but our whole country. The VHP focus on that theme is a wonderful example of our Hindu migrants' commitment to Australia's future and their allegiance to Australia, and shows that they want to see Australia grow and prosper. I thank the VHP for their warm welcome to the conference, for the very professional way in which the conference was managed, and for showing how Australian Hindu people can contribute even more to Australia's future. In particular, I commend the national president, Subramanian Ramamoorthy, and the state president, Rajendra Pandey, for their leadership of the association.