Multicultural Festivals

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:34): I rise this afternoon to speak on a number of recent events I have had the pleasure of attending. As shadow minister for multicultural affairs, I am very fortunate to be able to meet with many different groups within our South Australian community and to share in an array of remarkable cultural events.

I have been honoured to attend a number of absolutely lovely events celebrating Diwali, including with the Hindu Council of Australia (SA), and Deepavali, celebrating with the Adelaide Tamil Association. Celebrating these festivals has meant enjoying some extraordinary music and dance, great conversations about the meaning of this celebration, excellent food and reflection on what the Festival of Lights means.

The message of victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance is a simple one but a very powerful one. We do live in challenging times, and all of us face deep challenges from time to time. For some, it sometimes feels as though the darkness in the world could overwhelm them. But it is clear from all the people I have met at these celebrations that, although these dark, negative voices can sometimes feel the loudest, together as a majority we are filled with light, hope and wisdom.

The sense of the light we create when we work together was proudly on display when I recently attended Welcome to Australia's excellent Walk Together and Unity Festival. I am very proud to be a Welcome to Australia ambassador and believe deeply that when we wholeheartedly welcome new people to our Australian community, and when we treat those who seek to call our shores home with compassion, we are a better, kinder and stronger nation. Thank you to everyone who organised this year's Walk Together event, particularly those young leaders whose wisdom and drive to include everyone in our South Australian community give me great hope for the future. I hope that all those who celebrated Diwali and Deepavali had a very special time with those who are close to them.

Along with Labor Senate candidate Emily Gore, I had a fantastic time at the Oktober is Over event last Sunday. Thank you to the incredible Bund der Bayern performers, volunteers and group leaders, particularly the wonderful Reinhard Struve for including Emily and me in the celebration. It was a privilege to join them and to speak with the group and to acknowledge the joy they have brought to our community through their performances for almost 60 years. I look forward to supporting their continued efforts to bring people together through their work and thank them for their incredible contribution to our state. I also very much enjoyed the Schuhplattler, or hitting of the shoes, very ably demonstrated by Reinhard and his fellow dancers.

Last month, it was my absolute pleasure to host Pakistani Australian Connections of South Australia (PACSA) here in our Parliament of South Australia, together with my colleagues the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Malinauskas; the Member for Torrens and the Hon. Russell Wortley MLC. Some great conversations and connections were made, and I look forward to growing this friendship. It was great to be able to share the stories of this building with new members of our community and to answer many questions about the way our political system works in this state. I thank PACSA for providing support and help 24/7 to new Pakistani arrivals—families, individuals, students—to settle in Adelaide and to engage in every aspect of South Australian community life. They do incredible work and I admire and share their fine values of inclusion, connection, support and collaboration.

I also recently attended the Dozynki Polish Harvest Festival. The celebration of harvest was an incredibly positive and happy one, which members of our South Australian Polish community and broader community greatly enjoyed. But the day was bittersweet, as we celebrated without Paul Zajac, an extraordinary leader of the Polish community, who recently and suddenly passed away. My husband and I were very blessed to sit with him a few months ago at the Tatry 60^th anniversary celebration.

He was incredibly kind and engaging and had a clear passion for our community. He was the perfect host who made us feel instantly welcome and part of a beautiful celebration. From talking with him, I grew to know that he was someone at the heart of the Polish community who would always have made everyone feel welcome and who lifted people up and played a huge role in keeping many rich traditions alive in the sharing of the Polish culture in South Australia. I know that his enduring leadership, kindness and passion to include people will be greatly missed. My love and condolences to Paul's family, friends and everyone whose lives he touched. May he rest in peace.