Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Dashain

Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (10:02): Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the Dashain festival with Melbourne’s Nepalese community. The festival was hosted by Melbournepal, which supports Nepalese youth in our state. I was joined at the festival by my parliamentary colleague in the other place the Minister for Youth. The Dashain festival is the most significant and widely celebrated Hindu festival in Nepal. It is celebrated over 15 days and with many public holidays. That is why it was a pleasure to take part in the festivities in Melbourne.

In Melbourne’s north we have a growing Nepalese community. It was an honour to meet many members of the community contributing in a wide array of fields. Whether it be in blue-collar professions or whether it be in white-collar professions, the Nepalese community is making a real impact in my electorate in the north. The food, the singing and the dancing brought us all together irrespective of our cultural heritage, and it was further proof that our multicultural communities make us a stronger society. It was truly an honour to represent the government at this event, and I had the honour of lighting the flame for the auspicious tika ceremony.

I want to express my gratitude to all the organisers at Melbournepal and all the volunteers. I especially wish to thank Shailesh Ghimire and Sagar Pandey, our MC on the evening. I also want to give a special thankyou to Tarzon Budhathoki, who invited me to the event. Without your hard work and preparations the night could not have been such a big success.