Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to you, Speaker, kung hei fat choy and, in doing so, can I offer my warmest wishes to all of those celebrating their Chinese Lunar New Year—the Year of the Snake. I know that your electorate, in particular, will be celebrating this. In fact, my Chinese zodiac symbol is the snake, so therefore I am predicting a very successful year for the electorate of Moreton. The Year of the Snake is where all things will be possible. We should look forward to saving money and to using our talents wisely. In terms of using money wisely, that is not necessarily great news for the many Moreton projects that my constituents have approached me about—but, as a snake, maybe anything is possible.

Obviously, the Chinese Lunar New Year is a highly celebrated event around Australia, particularly in my electorate of Moreton, with many festivals and events from many different local organisations that, over the years, have always shown great success in bringing together not only the Chinese and Taiwanese community but the broader community to celebrate the year that is coming. It brings people from all over Brisbane, particularly to Sunnybank, and also from all over the south side. Even people from the northern side of the river come down to celebrate the Lunar New Year. I particularly think of great hardworking organisations in the electorate of Moreton such as the Queensland Federation of Taiwanese Associations; the Taiwanese Friendship Association; the Taiwan Women's League of Queensland, which always do great work but did particularly during the floods; the Mainland Chinese Society; the Tzu Chi Foundation; and the World Arts and Multi-Culture Inc.—I was at their AGM the other day—and the Taiwanese Centre. There are so many others that I could mention. Chinese restaurant owners, in particular, are very active community members and good business people at this time of the year. I would also like to mention the Vietnamese community groups who will also be celebrating this event, particularly those out in the suburbs of Oxley and Corinda.

The Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate family, first and foremost. That is what it is about. But it is also a time to recognise the important people, businesses and community organisations not only in the electorate of Moreton but also throughout Queensland and across the nation. I do so as co-chair, with Senator Matt Thistlethwaite, of the Chinese Ministerial Consultative Committee.

My Asian community leaders will be pivotal in the Gillard Labor government's plans for the nation, as detailed in our Asian century white paper. The expertise that they have and the context that they have will be crucial in helping to develop our connections with our neighbouring Asian nations.

I look forward to the input from such legendary community leaders from my electorate, like Lewis Lee OAM, Anthony Lin, Yvonne Wu and Michael Yao, just to name a few who are standout members of the Chinese Ministerial Consultative Committee. I would also like to mention Melody Chen; Wayne Ko; Danny Yeo, who had a great write-up in the Courier Mail on the weekend; Peter Low; Patrick Lu; and Tina Lei, who was just recently appointed as the new President of World Arts and Multi-Culture Incorporated. This is to name but a few. I would take this time in the federal parliament to especially mention Melody Chen for the great work that she has done over the last decade. She has made significant contributions to the local community in her time as president of World Arts and Multi-Culture Incorporated. She is just one of those many members of my community—the glue that keeps the humming multicultural south side together—who play an important part in a society that often has challenges and people trying to sow the seeds of fear.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express to the parliament how proud I am to represent such esteemed members of the Asian community. I think it could be said that I am the proudest snake in Australia—and I never thought I would be saying that in federal parliament when I started here five years ago! Our Lunar New Year celebrations are more significant than ever in 2013, with the recent release of the Gillard Labor government's Asian century white paper. Australia's engagement with the Asian region has a long history and we are in a good position to make the most of the opportunities that will flow from the Asian century.

My connection with the local Asian communities in Moreton has helped me to have a deeper and broader understanding and connection with these Asian nations. The Asian century will be a time for developing stronger partnerships across the region, through science and innovation, professional networks, interfaith and community groups, sporting connections and cultural links. It will create new jobs in new industries in new countries for the kids in Moreton who are going to school right now, and I look forward to these challenges and opportunities. (Time expired)