Tuesday, 3 October 2023

Ballarat Ganesh Festival

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (13:46): I rise to pay tribute to the organisers of the 2023 Ballarat Ganesh Festival, which is a very important event in the Hindu calendar. Specifically I would like to pay thanks to the Ballarat Hindu Temple & Cultural Centre, led by president Pradush and his wonderful executive team. It started on Friday night at Ballarat High School. There was prayer, there were cultural activities, including vibrant dancing, and I particularly want to pay note to Jinu Mathew, whose performance was just remarkable. There were kids activities, including rides, and food stalls and cuisine, culminating in fireworks that would probably give New Year’s Eve a run for its money. Over the weekend there were many other amazing events as well, capped off by the close of the festival at Lake Wendouree. I was so proud to be a guest of honour at the Ganesh Festival, and I want to pay tribute to the many hundreds if not thousands of members of the Hindu and broader Indian community in and around Ballarat. We value your contribution to our community, and the message that we send to you is very, very simple: we value you, we respect you and we welcome you with open arms. It does not matter where you were born or where you are from, it does not matter how tall you are or how short you are, everyone has a voice. That stuff does not matter at all, because in Australia we are all meant to be treated equally. Congratulations to the Ballarat Hindu temple and education centre, and I look forward to many more events to come.