Wednesday, 19 February 2020

Pongal harvest festival

Mr MAAS (Narre Warren South) (10:01): It is always a pleasure to attend cultural festivals in the electorate of Narre Warren South. On Sunday, 9 February, I attended the Pongal harvest festival at Casey Central Town Park. I was pleased to represent the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, as pleased as I was to be invited by the Tamil community’s Valluvar Foundation. The Valluvar Foundation is a not-for-profit group which engages with Victoria’s Tamil community. They do important work in promoting, preserving and facilitating Tamil culture, heritage and language. Now in its ninth year, the Pongal event provides a great opportunity for multicultural expression in our community, and it was wonderful to see aspects of Tamil culture and lifestyle on display, including a variety of entertainment, traditional dancing, games, arts, music and Tamil food stalls.

Narre Warren South is a proudly multicultural community, and the Pongal harvest festival is another great way to foster social cohesion and showcase our local diversity. When many newly arrived migrants settle in communities, it is hardworking multicultural community groups, such as the Valluvar Foundation, which reach out to help and provide support networks. The organisation provides much-needed pathways for new Australians who live in Narre Warren South, and I wish to acknowledge the foundation and Dr Bhuvana Sugumaran, their founding director, for their involvement and ongoing interest in our local community.

I wish to thank our local Tamil community and the Valluvar Foundation for inviting me to their Pongal festivities for 2020, and I look forward to the festival’s 10th anniversary in 2021.