Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Schools) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to say Ramadan Mubarak and Ramadan Kareem to every Australian for whom this is a special time, to wish them a happy and also, importantly, a generous Ramadan.

Ramadan, of course, is a period not just of fasting for Islamic Australians but of reflection and also of reaching out—of charity and of generosity. In that spirit, I would like to acknowledge particularly the community of the Thomastown Mosque in the Scullion electorate, who had me along to their iftar dinner on Saturday night. I was informed I am a game's record holder at the Thomastown Mosque iftar, a record that I intend to hold onto jealously, because the sharing that epitomises the community connected to that mosque is something I wish to highlight to this place.

I feel very lucky to be a friend of that community. I know I share that with my state colleague, Lily D'Ambrosio; the Mayor of the City of Whittlesea, Councillor Kris Pavlidis; Councillor Tom Joseph; Victoria Police and business representatives who attended this iftar, along with the attache of the Turkish High Commission, many other adherents of faith locally and the mosque committee.

I would like to thank the committee for all the work they do in bringing together their community and sharing the true spirit of Ramadan with the wider community of Melbourne's northern suburbs.