Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The 12th of November marked the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev ji. This has been much celebrated in my community. A revolutionary philosopher of his time, Guru Nanak championed values of equality, kindness and compassion in a period of South Asian history crippled by sectarian divides and inequality. The values advocated by Guru Nanak are consistently upheld by the Sikh community across Australia. We saw this captured amid the New South Wales bushfires with images of Sikh gurdwaras providing firefighters with warm meals.

In my electorate the work done by the Sikh community is an embodiment of Guru Nanak's teachings. Through the practice of Langar, our two Sikh gurdwaras provide free vegetarian meals to any individual who walks through their doors. An extension of this, local organisation Let's Feed supports school breakfast clubs and has recently partnered with United Sikhs in a community kitchen and food pantry to provide weekly meals to those in need.

To celebrate the teachings of Guru Nanak and the work of the Sikh community in Lalor I recently held a celebration. It was a wonderful morning spent reflecting on the philosophy of Guru Nanak, recognising the vibrancy of the Sikh community and what it brings to Lalor. I was also honoured to attend the first parkash ceremony of the Guru Granth Sahib here in the federal parliament. The teachings of quality, kindness and compassion are ones we should all take time to reflect on on this 550th earth anniversary of Guru Nanak.