Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Friday, 8 November I had the absolute pleasure of representing my local Sikh community at the 550th anniversary since the birth of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, at the Parliament of Victoria. It was a very important first-ever event for our Sikh community, because on that day the Parkash, which is the ceremony of installation and reading prayers, of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji was performed in an Australian parliament. I want to thank the Australian Multicultural Organisation, the Melbourne Sikh Council of Australia and Khalsa Shaouni Plumpton for organising this wonderful celebration. I especially want to thank AMO's President, Mr Giru Singh, who is also my constituent, for organising a fantastic event. I can say to you that our Sikh community was indeed very proud that they were able to celebrate, in the Victorian parliament, this very auspicious and important anniversary.

The celebration continued the next day down in Treasury Gardens in Victoria, where I represented the Leader of the Opposition at the Giru Nanak 550—Humanity Walk in Melbourne. It was a great opportunity for our local Sikh community to share this important event with other members of the Victorian community. I congratulate everybody involved for a wonderful event.