Thursday, 23 February 2023

Pongal festival

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:52): I had the privilege of attending the Pongal Tamil event recently, and this is a harvest festival that marks the beginning of Tamil month of Thai. It gives thanks to nature for its bountiful harvests. I joined Tamil Festival Australia in the South-Eastern Region with my dad, who was born in Sri Lanka, and joined in the dancing and festivals. I want to thank Siva and all the organisers for their kind invitation and inclusiveness. Today we will be honouring and welcoming the people of the south-east and the Tamil community as we celebrate the Tamil festival in Parliament in a bipartisan event during our lunch break. I wish to thank John Pesutto, our Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, for supporting me in this role, and I also want to thank Dr Samantha Ratnam and Mr Lee Tarlamis for their joint roles in organising and leading the bipartisan event together with me.