Today I want to pay tribute to the Cherrybrook Hindu community and in particular I would like wish all my constituents a happy and prosperous Deepavali.
Deepavali (also known as Diwali, Divali or Dipavali) is a five-day festival which symbolises and celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.
Throughout this period, Hindus from across the world adorn their finest clothes, illuminate and decorate their homes and partake in great family feasts.
This year the primary day of celebration falls on 27 October and will be celebrated by one billion Hindus worldwide with around six hundred thousand celebrating here in Australia.
Just this last weekend, some of the Cherrybrook Hindu community gathered at Cherrybrook Village Shopping Centre to showcase Deepavali. This event included music and dance performances that are linked to this ancient tradition of celebrating Deepavali.
I would like to acknowledge the twenty years of hard work by the Hindu Council of Australia and in particular National President Prakash Mehta and State President Jay Raman OAM, as well as Ashwani Kumar Jain and National Secretary Bharathi Rengarajan for putting on this spectacular event.