Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Born in Agra and raised in Chandigarh, Deepak-Raj Gupta probably didn't imagine, when he moved to Melbourne as an international student in 1989, that one day he would be serving in the ACT Legislative Assembly. But, as a result of a number of tragedies and coincidences, he is about to join that august body. Deepak-Raj Gupta is somebody of great experience and enormous commitment. He is a former chairman of the Australia India Business Council and somebody who is active in the Canberra community, having been named ACT government Multicultural Advocate of the Year.

Deepak-Raj Gupta's father died last year, and his mother passed away on 25 April this year. He said after he was chosen to go into the assembly, following the surprise resignation of Meegan Fitzharris: 'I wish my parents were here to share the joys of this news but surely they must be watching me from there.'

I acknowledge the hard work of Meegan Fitzharris and pay tribute to Jayson Hinder, a former chairman of Bendigo Bank, who would have taken the vacant seat had he not been tragically killed in a motorcycle accident in California in 2016. Deepak-Raj Gupta will serve the ACT people faithfully, and I congratulate him on his upcoming appointment.