Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Australia) Share this | Hansard source

On Friday the 16th we will celebrate entering a new year—the lunar new year. We will leave the year of the rooster and enter the year of the dog. This is pretty good, because I was born in the year of the dog, so this should be a great year for me.

Lunar new year is celebrated by many Asian countries—Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and China—and, of course, now in Australia. To my Vietnamese community: happy Tet! To the Koreans: happy Gujeong! In my electorate, to the over 28,000 who share Chinese ancestry: happy Chun Jie! For the Chinese, this day is the most auspicious and important in their calendar. It is described as the world's busiest mass migration, with billions of people travelling. People traverse thousands of kilometres in order to reunite with their loved ones, relatives and friends, just for this occasion. On the way back from the trade fairs in January each year, prior to being in this position, I got stuck in Singapore and Malaysia, quite happily, every year.

To the Chinese, the most fortuitous colour is red and the number is eight, so I'll be expecting lovely shades of red on the streets of Parramatta on Friday, and many groups of eight. On New Year's Day, I'll be visiting Nan Tien Temple in the morning before joining my staff for a Chinese lunch and then visiting Parramatta Park to immerse myself in the celebrations. I'm looking forward to celebrating with events, and expect me in red. Add me on Weixin to follow my celebrations in the new year. To others: expect posts on Facebook. Xin nian kuai le! Gong xi fa cai! Zhu nin shen ti jian kang!

See this speech in context