Thursday, 31 October 2019

 Ms RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (09:58): I am delighted to rise today to bring to the house’s attention the work of the Casey Multifaith Network. I am also very pleased that there are representatives of the network here today. The Casey Multifaith Network was established in 2006 by Ms Pam Mamouney, OAM, along with other like-minded people. Some of the people who have contributed enormously to this organisation include president Adam Sadiqzai (Khan); vice-president Stephen Chew; Reverend Jim Reiher; the late Mr Sivarasa, JP; Robin Dzedins, JP; Gamini Fonseka; and Andrew Williams.

As a way of educating and helping people to overcome tensions and to be more tolerant of other cultures and faiths, the Casey Multifaith Network have meetings on the third Thursday of each month which are open to the public. Their motto is ‘Peace, harmony and understanding’. There is also a radio program called Voice of Faith run through Casey Radio every Sunday from 8.00 to 9.00 am. They have presenters from the Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh and Islamic faiths. Along with this they organise regular tours to places of worship, including Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples, Muslim mosques and Christian churches. As well, they organise annual gathering nights, with a range of performances from various international and religious groups. The most recent of these was held at Bunjil Place in July this year. In 2015 the group held an exhibition with the theme ‘What does my faith mean to me?’. I am delighted to have the multifaith network represented in my community, an optimistic group.