Cassandra Fernando (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On the weekend, I joined the Victorian Afghan Associations' Network to celebrate the holiday of Nowruz. Nowruz has been celebrated for over 3,000 years by peoples of many religions and cultures across the lands of the ancient Persian empire. It marks the New Year and the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. While our seasons differ here in Australia, the spirit of Nowruz is alive and thriving in my electorate of Holt, which nearly 12,000 people from Afghanistan call home.

In Dandenong Park, more than 10,000 people gathered to celebrate with poetry, traditional music, dancing and cultural performances that reflect the diversity of the different cultures that make up the Afghan Australian community. Events like these remind us that multiculturalism is not just something we talk about; it is something the Labor Party embraces and that we live every day in Melbourne's outer south-east. This was my fifth time attending this event, and, each year, it is a joy to join the Afghan Australian community in celebrating Nowruz. I want to thank president Zabi Mazoori, event coordinator Hafiz Asadi, Hadi Karimi and all VAAN volunteers for their hard work and for always welcoming me so warmly on each occasion.

See this speech in context