Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday I was honoured to attend the Assyrian New Year celebration in Western Sydney, a testament to multicultural Australia. It caused me to pause and reflect, particularly with yesterday being Palm Sunday, marking the commencement of Holy Week, leading up to Easter. The Assyrian community is a living bridge between ancient and modern times. Through the enduring use of Aramaic, one of the world's oldest spoken languages, Assyrians weave the tapestry of human history into the fabric of today.

The Assyrian community's journey through history is also marked by chapters of Christian persecution. As one of the earliest groups to adopt Christianity, they have faced centuries of adversities that have threatened their existence and threatened their faith. The wicked issue of Christian persecution is not relegated to the history books or the Assyrian community or the Assyrian diaspora, and it continues to this day. According to Christian organisation Open Doors, more than 365 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. In the last year alone, some 5,000 Christians were murdered, some 15,000 churches and Christian properties were attacked and 4,125 Christians were detained worldwide.

Against the backdrop of these troubling statistics, Holy Week urges us to contemplate the core teachings of Christianity. Easter serves as a poignant reminder of the transformative power of forgiveness, the importance of compassion towards others and the strength found in faith amidst adversity and embracing the possibility of renewal and forgiveness. It is a message of hope, an opportunity to start again, to do better and to be better. These teachings offer a blueprint for tolerance, a quality all too absent in Australian political discourse today and otherwise.