Tuesday, 12 November 2024

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (18:39): (1260) I wish to extend our best wishes to the Sikh community in Victoria, who celebrated Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary at Parliament recently. This is a very special and spiritual time for the Sikh community, and we send our best wishes for Diwali as well. The Sikh community in Victoria continues to make a significant contribution to the life of our state. However, many Sikh community members are reporting that they are feeling increasingly unsafe and surveilled. Community leaders across the world are being targeted, and in a grave escalation, Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in British Columbia, Canada, last year. The US Department of Justice has also claimed that an Indian government official directed the attempted assassination of a Sikh community leader on US soil. Human rights activists are especially vulnerable in the current climate.

Many Sikh community members have expressed that they also feel unfairly targeted and blamed for some vandalism at Hindu temples that occurred prior to the recent referendum. The community has been feeling increasingly threatened by reports of possible foreign interference, extreme violence and attempts to obtain sensitive information about trade relationships and defence technology from authorities and politicians. The community is also seeking more information about the police investigation into vandalism of the temples. A freedom-of-information request in Queensland yielded valuable information for the community about who may have been responsible for the incidents. The action I am seeking from the Minister for Police is to provide the house with an update on what the Victorian government is doing to work with federal intelligence and policing agencies to monitor and protect the safety of Sikh Victorians.