Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On Saturday 25 October our community was given a special treat: a look inside our brand-new, beautiful Omar Mosque in Gwynneville. The mosque was 10 years in the making, and it is now open thanks to the kind and generous contributions of the Illawarra Islamic community. Walking into the mosque is a real treat, with its absolutely magnificent brass coloured chandeliers inside the domes that are a nod to our steel history. I was so delighted to see a fantastic turnout of community members of all backgrounds who came along to see inside this grand, new building and learn more about what happens inside. It was a true display of community unity and spirit. Everyone who came was given a tour of the facility, and there was absolutely incredible food and entertainment for the whole family.

The community had simply outgrown the original mosque, which had its own interesting history, having been used in the past by the Jewish and Christian communities. A new purpose-built facility was something that the Omar Mosque committee was really passionate about, and you could see how excited the whole community was to finally see it open. I was also pleased to have supported the mosque with $100,000 in federal funding for its security system.

I want to thank Sheik Abdul Rahman Fattah and the Omar Mosque committee, including the founder of the AICC, Shafik Khan; Ziad Sultan; Khaled El Hage; Amad Badeir; and my good friends President Hussein Salem and Dr Munir Hussain.

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