Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to wish a blessed Ramadan, or Ramadan Mubarak, to the Muslim community across Australia, who are currently celebrating the holy month. This is a time not only for that community to celebrate but for all Australians to celebrate the contribution that our Muslim community has made to Australia in all walks of life. In that spirit, I was delighted to join an iftar dinner hosted last week by the Bangladeshi Muslim community in Sydney with my colleague Senator Bragg and others, and I look forward to joining Sydney's Muslim community in future celebrations in the days and weeks to come.

A particular favourite of mine—and I know many of my colleagues would have been there—is Lakemba Nights on Haldon Street in Lakemba, an event that allows Muslim community members to gather together and break the fast but also invites other parts of Sydney's community to share their celebrations, traditions and culture with them, whether that's having a knafeh—a Middle Eastern sweet that I'm very familiar with and fond of—or a camel burger. Many Sydneysiders go to Lakemba during this month of Ramadan to share, celebrate and support Sydney's Islamic culture and Muslim culture.

There are some one million Australians who are of the Islamic faith who are celebrating the event this year. For them, it is a time for reflection, a time for spending time with family and connections and a time to think about hardships and suffering amongst the Muslim community in Australia but also around the world. It's a time, importantly, for those of us not of the faith to celebrate and recognise the contributions that Australian Muslims have made to Australia and will make in the future. Ramadan Mubarak.