Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We held two excellent breakfast events this week at Parliament House, and we all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We had the National Prayer Breakfast on Monday, co-hosted by the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, and the breakfast club this morning, held by the National School Chaplains Association and the Parliamentary Friends of School Chaplaincy. I want to thank all those who were involved in organising both of these events, and a big thank you to everyone that attended. The National Prayer Breakfast sold out a week in advance with more than 500 guests attending, making it one of the largest events in this building. The event has gone from strength to strength, and that is due to the hard work and dedication of our parliamentary chaplain, Leon Hribar, and our organising committee, all of whom are volunteers. Thank you all very much indeed for your contributions.

I also want to thank our keynote speakers this year at the National Prayer Breakfast, Danny and Leila Abdallah, who shared their very, very powerful testimony on forgiveness and grace in the face of terrible loss and grief. It was a timely reminder for all of us in these turbulent times of what the Bible says in Colossians 3:13: 'Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.' I'm sure that everyone knows the Abdallahs' story, and for them to come to that place of forgiveness is truly one of the most remarkable things you could ever see. If you don't know their story, I'd encourage you to learn about their story.

I'm also proud to support the work of the National School Chaplaincy Association. School chaplains are absolutely critical as a much-needed source of holistic pastoral care for some of our most vulnerable student cohorts. I thank them for hosting a wonderful breakfast club event here this morning. They provided toasties and juice boxes, and all colleagues got a box of 'chaplaincy crunch', which I'm sure you enjoyed.