Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Today we celebrate the great work that the 60,000 charities that operate in Australia do for our community. Indeed, we celebrate the almost 4,000 of them in my home state of Western Australia. When we think about charity, we think about community, we think about volunteerism, we think about philanthropy. So today I'm delighted to acknowledge that this is the International Day of Charity. We know that, whether it is natural disasters, humanitarian crisis or even pandemic, charity and the giving of others in service of the community stands out as a great achievement not just for our community but for humanity. The practice of being charitable is felt daily by millions of people across the world, and today we celebrate that.

This is the 10th anniversary of International Day of Charity. It is the 10th anniversary because this is the day that we mark the death of Mother Teresa, a great symbol of the good and important work done by charitable people across the globe. Many of us will recall that in 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize 'for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace'.

So today, as we go about our work, as we acknowledge the great contributions that are made in our community across our nation and across the world, let us take a moment to acknowledge, appreciate and pay tribute to the International Day of Charity.