Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the past two weekends, the Fraser community has celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, which marks the start of spring in India, Nepal and other south Asian countries, and for their diasporas. The festival celebrates the triumph of good over evil and signifies a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, with the changing of the seasons from winter to spring—at least, in the northern hemisphere. Last night, the Melbourne Mandir hosted a wonderful celebration. I felt very privileged to be able to participate in the spiritual rituals and traditions held in their beautiful temple.

Last night was also a time when the whole community came together, with hundreds of people from all generations—young people through to their grandparents. Thank you to the Nimesh Patel and to all of the many other hardworking volunteers, without whom the temple would not be maintained and the delicious food would not have been served in such abundance last night.

My first Holi festival for the year was at West Footscray's Festival of Colours a couple of weekends ago, presented by the West Footscray Traders Association. This was an equally vibrant and enjoyable celebration of this most enjoyable day. I'm still cleaning my clothes from a day of being bombarded with colours, from yellow, blue and green through to pink! Particular thanks go to Pradeep Tiwari for his passion and hard work in organising this fantastic local festival, as he has for many, many years, and also to his committee of very dedicated volunteers.

These are wonderful multicultural events and a wonderful example of volunteerism in our community.