Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I got to represent Prime Minister Albanese at the Queensland Irish Association's St Patrick's Day dinner. I came on to speak after 10 pm, which was quite an experience! There were a lot of good speakers at the event, including the Irish Minister Simon Coveney and members of the Irish government delegation. He spoke well, as did Tim Mawe, the ambassador of Ireland, but the best speaker was a bloke called Andrew Slack, the rugby player, who happens to be my constituent. I also ran into someone called Aileen Cater-Steel, from the Darling Downs Irish Club, who came up after my speech and introduced herself as my relative. It turns out my mum, Peggy Morrissy, and my great-grandmother, Ellen Long, were all from the Darling Downs, from Deuchar, near Allora—just some of the 75 million people around the world who celebrate St Patrick's Day. I know there are many in this chamber. It was a great event, and I look forward to some great trade opportunities with Ireland coming up, as it becomes the gateway to Europe, as the United Kingdom has a slightly different engagement with Europe. I also particularly thank Minister Simon Coveney for, in his speeches, both there and at the Irish embassy last night, affirming that all Irish Australians should be backing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, that anyone with Irish blood could not be silent when it comes to recognising our First Nations people and that it was a sign of a very modern Australia. Happy St Patrick's Day. That's the end of the fortnight of St Patrick's Day events, surely!