Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Gong xi fa cai to all who are celebrating the Lunar New Year, welcoming the Year of the Ox and bidding farewell to the Year of the Rat. I think that, after 2020, we can all say, 'Good riddance.' It was during the Lunar New Year in 2020 that people returning from visiting family overseas started to self-isolate, even before the rest of Australia understood this necessity. In 2020, events were cancelled and wearing masks around my electorate, in Sunnybank particularly, became the norm. Here we are, 12 months on, and communities have still managed to celebrate the good fortune we have locally. Sunnybank Plaza held its cultural stalls, Sunnybank Hills had a lovely lamp display, and at Market Square on Friday I saw line dancing, bringing fortune and chasing away some evil spirits. You might have guessed that the Year of the Rat is traditionally a year of turbulence, in which change and disasters are commonplace, and certainly last year lived up to that name. However, this year, 2021, the ox is seen as a hard worker, and zodiac experts, whom I've consulted extensively for this, believe the Year of the Ox is a period when hard work will be rewarded, even more than usual. Let me tell you that we have all been working hard at saying goodbye to the Year of the Rat and welcoming the Year of the Ox. To all those celebrating, I wish you good fortune in the Year of the Ox. Xin nian kuai le! I thank the member for Chisholm for the pronunciation tip. Gong xi fa cai!