Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Sunday, 10 February the Chinese or Lunar New Year was celebrated around the world. Indeed it was celebrated with particular vigour and enthusiasm in the electorate of Bradfield. Over four per cent of the residents of Bradfield were born in China and almost 10 per cent of the residents of Bradfield described themselves in the most recent census as being of Chinese heritage. The Chinese community makes a remarkable contribution to the electorate of Bradfield, and the people in that community work extremely hard in the professions, in trade and commerce and in so many other ways in giving back and in supporting our community.

Celebrations of the Chinese New Year do not, of course, occur just on 10 February but last from the first new moon of the Northern Hemisphere spring through until the full moon rises 15 days later. This Chinese New Year we are welcoming in the Year of the Snake, characterised, I am advised, by intuitiveness, introspectiveness and grace. In Chinese culture the snake is seen as not outwardly emotional but as contemplative and private. My further research indicates that 1965 was the Year of the Snake, and I merely note that that was the year in which I was born, without drawing any other conclusions.

There are many customs and traditions that are normally observed during Chinese New Year, including cleaning your house before new year to get rid of any bad luck from the previous year; decorating your house with apricot and peach blossom; and settling all debts before new year and not borrowing or lending money over new year—clearly that would present problems for the present government, but it is a matter of importance within the Chinese culture, which is a culture that is celebrated within the electorate of Bradfield.

So I am very pleased to wish all of my Chinese constituents—indeed, all of my constituents—a happy Chinese New Year. I look forward particularly to being in Chatswood this Saturday, when the Willoughby Council will hold its usual Chinese New Year celebratory event. At that event and a whole range of other events across the electorate of Bradfield, Chinese New Year is being marked as a significant and important event in the life of the electorate of Bradfield, as indeed it is in the life of Australia, a nation enriched by people from so many cultures and backgrounds, including people of Chinese background. So I wish all of my Chinese constituents a happy new year. Kung hei fat choi!