Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me great joy to rise in this place to recognise the outstanding contribution made by a wonderful Queensland citizen, Mr Surendra Prasad OAM. Surendra celebrated his 80th birthday last week, and can I say to Surendra what an honour it was for me to be able to attend his 80th birthday celebration.

Surendra has done so much for our state of Queensland and for our country. He has been a leader of our wonderful Indian diaspora in my home state of Queensland, including being President of the Federation of Indian Communities of Queensland. In this capacity, he was actually a driving force behind bringing what is referred to as the Diwali festival into the central business district of Brisbane and sharing this wonderful festival, the victory of light over darkness, with all of the Queensland community.

In addition to that, he was the visionary behind the establishment of a memorial to Australians of Indian ethnicity who died in the service of Australia in our armed forces. He made that memorial happen, I'm pleased to say, with the support of the previous government. I congratulate him for that wonderful achievement.

In addition to that, he was also the founder and president of the Fiji Senior Citizens Association of Queensland, which has done wonderful work helping all members of the Australian community and our Pacific family in times of need, whether it be in times of bushfires, floods or cyclones.

There is no better example or personification of our Australian values, the values which we all aspire to meet, than my good friend, my brother, Mr Surendra Prasad OAM.