Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge the upcoming 38th Australian Sikh Games to be held in Melbourne from 3 to 5 April 2026 at Parkville. I've been to a number of these games in the past and they are absolutely fantastic. The Australian Sikh Games are a premier sporting and cultural event for our fantastic Sikh community right across Australia. Each year the games bring together athletes' families and spectators not only from across Australia but also from overseas, including New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada and the United Kingdom. The event includes a total of 17 different sporting games, and a total of 9,500 players have registered so far.

A blood donation drive is being organised in partnership with Red Cross, which is absolutely fantastic, and the fundraiser will aim to raise $125,000 for the Royal Children's Hospital. The event is expected to attract around an incredible 300,000 people over three days, with over 8,000 athletes and performers. Free food will be provided to all attendees during the event. When it comes to gurdwaras, they always provide free food for anyone who visits; they provide so much support for the community. Around 120 non-profit sporting and cultural clubs will be taking part, making the games a powerful example of community participation.

Congratulations to the Melbourne Sikh Games organising committee for all the incredible hard work and effort you put in making the games a success year after year in Melbourne, including President Jagjit Singh Chugha; Senior Vice President Rupinder Brar, Vice President Arashdeep Singh, Kulwant Singh—a good friend of mine; Gurpreet Shokar and Muskan Soraya; secretary Udesh Virdi and all the other committee members and all those who will be supporting.

I was very proud, prior to the last election, that an elected Liberal government would commit $450,000 to support the Sikh games, and I was very glad to see the government match that funding. They're desperate for funding because they have so many volunteers. The success of the games relies on hundreds of those volunteers I spoke about, along with support from local businesses, sponsors and community fundraising.

I'm especially proud to acknowledge a local club from my electorate of La Trobe, the Baba Buddha Ji sporting club in Pakenham—otherwise known as BBJSC—will be representing our community volleyball, and I wish them every success in the competition. I congratulate BBJSC's executive team Onkar Sekhon, Jagdev Singh and Charan Singh for their friendship over the years and also for their leadership and hard work, efforts to support young athletes and help in promoting healthy lifestyles, discipline and unity. I wish all the competitors, volunteers and families a safe, successful and memorable games in Melbourne next month.

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