Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I forgot the bread rolls. Last year I had the great pleasure of going on my first solo meals-on-wheels run at Meals on Wheels Sunnybank/Salisbury and I forgot them. Luckily, Sunnybank/Salisbury Meals on Wheels has a lot of fantastic volunteers who could pick up the slack when it came to delivering those bread rolls. I do want to thank Judy Evans and Karthik, who work at that Meals on Wheels.

I'm incredibly lucky because I've got an electorate that has a few. We've got Meals on Wheels in Acacia Ridge, Sherwood and Yeronga. Their motto is 'More than just a Meal', and it's really true, because those volunteers provide not only a meal for vulnerable Australians—in particular, older Australians—but also a welcome relief when it comes to company and tackling social isolation.

It's been a challenging year for our Meals on Wheels—that was reported back by Sharon Willingham at the Brisbane South Meals on Wheels AGM I went to a while ago—with Cyclone Alfred shutting down the Sunnybank centre for many, many days. But, despite all that, 245,000 meals were delivered in the 2025 financial year, and I thank them for that.

Thousands of my local constituents have been celebrating Diwali and Deepavali over the last few weeks—indeed, for some, over the last month. It's known as the Festival of Lights and it celebrates the victory of good over evil, of light over darkness and of knowledge over ignorance. At a time when we know that people have been pulling at the thread of our multicultural tapestry, it has never been more important to celebrate events like this. In my local community, the Hindu Council of Australia hosted celebrations at Rocklea. Over 7,000 people were there. I want to thank Rajesh Verma, the president of the Hindu Council of Australia, with the Hindu Council supporting our community for over 25 years. In my community, there was also the Brisbane Diwali Sports Carnival and Kabaddi Cup. If you've never watched kabaddi, it's a combination of wrestling and rugby and it's a great watch. Thank you to the FICQ and its president, Dr Preethi Suraj, and the Tamil Association of Queensland and its president, Karthick Elangovan. I thank everyone for enjoying and celebrating these events and the volunteers for organising those celebrations.

Lastly, I want to pay tribute to the Anglican Parish of Yeronga, also known as Christ Church Yeronga. They lost their rectory in a fire in early August—a 120-year-old Queenslander, which provided accommodation for community members in need. The community, with Reverend Rebecca King, ran a 'phoenix' event to raise money so that they could rebuild. The volunteers that came together are rebuilding that place, because our community will always help each other when times are tough.

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