ADJOURNMENT

Senator SCARR (Queensland) (20:26): It is an honour to follow Senator Whish-Wilson's last adjournment speech. I'd like to applaud him on his passionate advocacy, especially in relation to Australia's beautiful oceans, which I've witnessed over the seven years I've been a senator. Senator Whish-Wilson is someone who I always carefully listen to and whose views I deeply respect.

I'm sure that the scientists who you referred to would want to thank you for your advocacy, for your connection with them and for translating their work into effective advocacy in this place. I should also say, in relation to your comments on your personal circumstances, I can remember, when I learned that you'd suffered the debilitating illness shingles—I've had some people very close to me suffer it—how impressed I was that you could continue working so effectively with that burden.

I think we should all listen very carefully to the comments you made in relation to medicinal cannabis. I know, through the work I do, how important medicinal cannabis is to many of our veterans. Many of them rely upon medicinal cannabis.

So I am, like I'm sure all senators are, looking forward to your valedictory speech tomorrow night. It should be entertaining, as all your speeches are. It was an honour to have the benefit of listening to your last adjournment speech.

We're here on a cold Canberra night, so I thought I might warm everyone's hearts with some tales of some extraordinary Queenslanders and some wonderful events I've attended during the winter recess. I congratulate Australian Lutheran World Services for a very successful Walk My Way 2026 Brisbane fundraising event. Australian Lutheran World Services is a wonderful overseas aid and development organisation accredited by the Australian government.

Just last Saturday, there was a walk attended by hundreds and hundreds of people to raise funds for refugee girls in Kenya and Somalia and in particular to raise funds to assist them with education. The goal was to raise $100,000. I checked on the donation page earlier today—and the donation page is still up; all you've got to do is search 'Walk My Way 2026'—and we have in fact raised $101,842, which will help 1,018 girls in Kenya and Somalia.

That's 1,018 girls who will now have the benefit of an education. I want to thank everyone who walked. I also want to emphasise how important this event was to our wonderful African Queensland community.

There were leaders from that community at that walk, and for them to witness this generosity of spirit from their fellow Australians to help African girls in need in Somalia and Kenya was deeply moving. I'd like to thank the chair, Morgan Brookes; the executive officer, Michael Stolz; the community action manager, Mr Jonathan Krause; and the whole team. Thank you all for demonstrating what good can be achieved when we walk together.

I would like to thank Bhartiya Samaj for holding a wonderful multicultural event on Sunday 2 August 2026 at Brisbane City Hall and King George Square. The event was entitled Empowering People, Strengthening Queensland 2026. I want to quote from a speech given by the president, Mr Abhishek Sharma, on the day.

It was a wonderful speech, and Abhishek is a great Australian. He said: When we first imagined this event, we didn't want to create just another multicultural festival. Queensland already has many wonderful festivals.

We wanted to create something different. A place where people don't just celebrate their own culture—they discover someone else's. A place where government meets community, where businesses connect with charities, where students meet mentors, where newcomers find trusted information, and where complete strangers leave as friends.

Because communities are not built by buildings. Communities are built by people connecting with people. It was a wonderful speech from President Abhishek.

I also want to congratulate all the winners of multicultural awards at the event. The disability advocacy award winner was a dear friend of mine, Syed Muhammad Zaidi. Congratulations, Syed!

I could see how much the award meant to you and to your beautiful family, and it was an honour to be there when you received the award. The youth leadership award winner was Poonita Agarwal. The community leadership award winner was Peter Bongiorni, who's from our Ukrainian community and has provided outstanding leadership for that community in Queensland.

The community organisation award winner was the Eritrean Women's Support Network, which is presided over by the wonderful Mama Saba. Acting Deputy President, if you and our chief whip are ever in Brisbane, I'd love to take you to her restaurant, which does wonderful work in terms of providing opportunities to the most vulnerable people in our community. The multicultural community champion award winner was Shweta Goyal, the excellence in sports award winner was Mahi Mehta—I had the delight of meeting Mahi's parents, and they should be very proud—and, of course, the lifetime service award winner was none other than my wonderful friend Janeth Deen OAM, who has done so much work in the Queensland community, bringing people together.

Janeth is a wonderful Australian, and she epitomises the event that was held, which was all about empowering people and empowering Queenslanders. It is now a totemic event on Queensland's calendar: the LUMINOUS Lantern Parade, which is held on the Friday night at the commencement of Multicultural Queensland Month. I want to congratulate the wonderful team at Multicultural Australia for their work in bringing the parade together.

There were 2,000 participants from 80 different communities participating in the parade at Southbank. There were thousands of people lining the route of the parade. They were five or six people deep in places, all in wonderfully good spirits, watching the parade, watching the wonderful lanterns, watching the cultural expression that was taking place and all coming together as Queenslanders to celebrate multiculturalism in my beautiful state.

I would like to thank everyone who participated. I'd like to thank Mr Rabi Alam of the Rohingya community in Queensland who gave a beautiful speech during the formal proceedings. I'd also like to thank Mellissa Naidoo, the chair of the board of Multicultural Australia; Jo Nelson, the acting CEO; and the Peruvian ambassador who attended.

I had the delight of meeting the Peruvian ambassador. In fact, I met him at the airport, and we discussed one of my favourite authors, Mario Vargas Llosa. I recommend everyone read his work.

He's a Nobel Prize winner no less. I'd like to thank His Excellency Mr Vitaliano Gaspar Gallardo Valencia for attending the event, and I know he was particularly moved by the contribution made by the Peruvian diaspora in Brisbane. I was delighted to attend Sacred Heart School in Booval to make a flag presentation to them.

I'd been approached by a wonderful grade 5 teacher at the school, Mr Gary Lowe, at the Ipswich Show, and he asked me if I could procure a beautiful national flag and also an Aboriginal flag and a Torres Strait Islander flag for the school, which I did. I then had the joy of presenting those flags to the wonderful school captains, Autumn and Ethan, at a school assembly, and I then had the joy of sitting in one of the classes and taking terrific questions from some of the students.

They were very thoughtful and very probing. I felt like I was in Patricia Karvelas's studio at times, and I really did enjoy the interaction with the students at that wonderful school. The students were so well behaved, so courteous and so respectful.

They were a great example of the young people we have growing up in this country, and they really did show such wonderful respect for the event. I thank them all for their attention.