Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I must say I was never any good at speed dating. I'm probably too longwinded. But I do admire Senator Polley's passion for this area and her consistent advocacy in relation to a whole range of matters dealing with brain health. I knew nothing about juvenile dementia until Senator Polley actually gave a presentation in the Senate, so I do warmly acknowledge her contribution in that regard.

I would like to congratulate the Crisafulli LNP government for delivering on their promises for the people of Ipswich. My office is located in the greater Ipswich region, and at the last state election the Crisafulli LNP government made a number of promises to the people of Ipswich, including to fund the business case for the second river crossing across the Bremer River in Ipswich. Notwithstanding the fact that the LNP was not successful in winning any seats in Ipswich, the Crisafulli LNP government is still delivering on its election promises for the people of Ipswich, including delivering on that important business case. So thank you to Premier David Crisafulli and the LNP team for delivering for the people of Ipswich.

We are currently in Ramadan. This is a month of fasting, communal prayer, reflection and community for our Australian Muslim community. I have attended a number of iftar dinners over the last week and a half. I'd like to acknowledge the Islamic College of Brisbane for their wonderful unity iftar dinner, which was hosted by the college and its CEO, Mr Ali Kadri. I'd like to acknowledge the school captains, who always inspire me. The students at the Islamic College of Brisbane always inspire me, so I want to give a big shout-out to them for the wonderful job that they did and to all of the school community for putting on a beautiful iftar dinner.

I'd also like to thank Her Excellency the Governor-General of Australia for hosting a wonderful iftar dinner at Admiralty House in Sydney, which I was delighted to attend in my capacity as co-chair of the Friends of SBS. I'd also like to acknowledge my fellow Queenslander Imam Akram Buks of the Slacks Creek Masjid, who was also in attendance from Queensland at that wonderful event. It was attended by faith leaders across all faiths, across all religions, and by community leaders from the Muslim community.

I also attended an iftar dinner hosted by the Bangladesh Association of Brisbane. The Bangladesh community is a wonderful community, and they provide medical personnel, doctors, nurses, IT specialists and engineers and contribute to Queensland and Australia in so many wonderful days. After that iftar dinner, I went to visit my friends at Algester mosque in Brisbane, who put on one of their wonderful community barbecues open to the whole community. The Algester mosque reaches out to the whole community and invites them to their iftar dinner, and they put on another magnificent barbecue, so I thank them.

David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What did you eat?

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ate too much, Senator Shoebridge! It was all good.

One of the iftar dinners I attended was hosted by the Islamic Practice and Dawah Circle Inc. It was a very moving occasion, especially given the divisive comments which have been made by some over the course of the last month. The Islamic Practice and Dawah Circle Inc was established by a wonderful Queenslander called Dr Mohammed Hussain. Dr Hussain studied as a doctor in Bangladesh. For many years, he worked in refugee camps, providing medical services to those most in need around the world. His professional conduct and the standard of his medical services so impressed the dean of the medical faculty in Newcastle that that professor invited him to come to Australia and Newcastle to work. He then served as a doctor in Newcastle, in Launceston and also in regional Queensland. The fact of the matter is that regional Queensland has benefited from many health practitioners who have the Muslim faith, and he served in Blackall for many years as a doctor. When he became a citizen he and his brothers and sisters got together and thought, 'How can we give back to this country?' He took that oath of citizenship, and his first act after taking that oath was to sit down with migrants who shared the Muslim faith and work out how they could get back to our beautiful country.

He established and is a co-founder of the Islamic Practice and Dawah Circle Inc, which provides extraordinary assistance to communities in need in Australia. They were there when the bushfires occurred. They were there during the COVID pandemic. They're there to give blood. They're there to provide training and assistance so people are given a hand up to enter the workforce. They're there in terms of recreation and sport. They're there to mentor the young and to assist the next generation.

One of the most moving events at that Iftar dinner was a contribution made by my dear friend Dr Zakaria Amin, who is a leader of a wonderful organisation called Multicultural Mailer. Multicultural Mailer organises job fairs for people in the multicultural community and the wider community to get jobs. They also host a wonderful Eid For All festival following Ramadan. Dr Zakaria, who gives so much to the Queensland community, spoke about how IPDC supported him and his family when they first came to Australia. Now Dr Zakaria Amin is giving back to the Australian community, and that's the way it is.

So, when I took the position yesterday to support the censure motion of Senator Pauline Hanson, I was thinking of all those wonderful members of our Queensland Muslim community and of the broader Muslim community whom I'd met over the course of the last two weeks and during the course of my service in the Australian Senate. I had no option but to support that censure motion against the divisive language of Senator Pauline Hanson. I note that, at that Iftar dinner, which was run by IPDC, they had their slogan, 'Better together', up in flashing lights. At each and every one of those Iftar dinners, they talked about Australian values and how important Australian values are. Better together—no truer words have ever been spoken.

Our Sudanese community in Australia is suffering greatly at the moment. Sudan is undergoing a humanitarian catastrophe. I had a meeting with members of the Sudanese community last week and I undertook to talk about the situation in Sudan here this evening. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has recently given another presentation about the acts of genocide that are occurring in Sudan. Millions of people are suffering from starvation and hunger in Sudan. The situation is very, very difficult, and it's taking its toll on our Sudanese community.

Many members of the community are working more than one job because they're not only trying to feed their families and provide for their families in Australia in a cost-of-living crisis but also trying to help out relatives overseas. One of the issues that was raised with me during that meeting, which I will raise with the Minister for Home Affairs and with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, is the plight of those refugees in Egypt at the moment, many of whom have family connections here in Australia. Notwithstanding the fact that they've been recognised as refugees by the United Nations, they are suffering at the moment in Egypt. There's a lot of pressure on them in Egypt with respect to their safety and wellbeing. So I ask the Australian government to reach out to the Egyptian government and seek assistance for those refugees from the horrific situation in Sudan. Australia should do everything that it can to help our Sudanese diaspora and those in need.

Lastly, I was delighted to attend the opening of the Matu Community Hub Centre in Logan. This is a huge milestone for the community. I want to quote from two of the pictures that were up in the community centre. This is from the community leader, Lawm Cangmah: 'Don't just serve your community. Design its future and lead by example.' And this is from Wahn Liu: 'Walk humbly with God, serve people wholeheartedly and love your community intentionally'—a great example for all Australians.