Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the parliamentary break, Parramatta Mission hosted its annual interfaith prayer service to mark the International Day of Peace. I was invited to light the peace candle and I now would like to acknowledge the people of faiths who came together to pray for peace. Thank you to Pearl Wymarra from the first people of Australia; Nishan Basmajian from the Armenian Apostolic community; Satu Hessar-Amiri from the Baha'i community; Margaret Parker from the Brahma Kumaris community; Thubten Chokyi from the Buddhist community; the Very Reverend Father Robert Bossini from the Catholic community; Pandit Jatin Kumar Bhatt from the Hindu community; Neil El-Kadomi from the Islamic community; Bhupinder Jain from the Jain community; Kati Haworth from the Jewish community; Ganzibra Professor Doctor Brikha Nasoraia from the Mandaean community; Manjinder Singh from the Sikh community; Reverend Keith Hamilton from Parramatta Mission and the Uniting Church; and Dr Pheroza Daruwalla from the Zoroastrian community. A special thanks also to the students from Arthur Phillip High School, who contributed not with a prayer but with a haka; Dr Gorur Krishna Harinath for giving the occasional address; and Reverend Dr Manas Ghosh for presiding over the event. I live in a great community that is incredibly diverse, and it's important to champion our diversity of faiths and be thankful for our freedom. Let peace fill our hearts, our world and our universe.