ADJOURNMENT

Ms MILLER-FROST (Boothby) (19:35): I had the pleasure of attending the Raksha Bandhan Festival hosted by HOTA Forum, the Hindu Organisations, Temples and Associations Forum, last weekend. Raksha Bandhan is an important celebration on the Hindu calendar and an important celebration for the Indian community. It's a celebration of the relationship between brothers and sisters, and we are all brothers and sisters.

Raksha Bandhan literally means 'bond of protection'. On Raksha Bandhan, sisters tie a sacred thread around the wrist of their brothers, and brothers return the affection and protection. This practice is based on the story of the Hindu god Krishna.

Krishna hurt his finger, and Draupadi tore a strip from her sari to bandage the wound. It represents commitment, love and care between siblings. At the festival, families wore traditional colourful clothes, delicious food was abundant, and we were all spellbound by the traditional Indian dance.

I had the privilege of presenting awards to Indian and Hindu volunteers and organisations that have made a lasting impact on the South Australian community. In my electorate of Boothby, the Indian community is the second largest by place of birth, and thousands of my constituents speak Punjabi, Gujarati and Hindi at home. The Shri Ganesha Temple in Boothby, the first Hindu temple in South Australia, is a central hub for the Indian and Hindu communities across southern Adelaide and was a recipient of one of the awards.

They tell me that they have about 340 festivals at the temple every year, which is not quite one every day but very close. The Raksha Bandhan Festival was a true celebration of Indian and Hindu culture. It's also a celebration of Australia's multicultural society and the fact that Indian and Hindu culture, and cultures from all around the world, have enriched and enhanced our way of life.

Krishna himself advocates for the concept of unity in diversity, and that is one of Australia's very great strengths. Australia would be a drastically different place, a poorer place, without our diversity of cultures and experiences. Multiculturalism is who we are.

Cultures from around the world have contributed to Australia for generations and centuries and are continuing to contribute to Australia. Multiculturalism defines us at our core. That's why the Albanese Labor government has committed to strengthening Multicultural Australia by investing $500 million in our multicultural communities.

There was a moment at the Raksha Bandhan festival when all the audience stood up to pledge their commitment to make Australia a better place. They pledged themselves, and they pledged their organisations. The festival, for me, was a reminder not just of sisterly and brotherly love but of the love shared between Australians, no matter where we've come from and no matter where we're going.

Sadly, the H5 bird flu has reached Australia, and South Australia has been particularly impacted. Our recent figures show 169 of the total 262 detected cases across Australia have been in South Australia, including a number of birds in Glenelg that have been found to have died from bird flu. While the risk to humans is low, it does affect mammals, and it is progressing quickly among the wild bird population.

Native species of bird are particularly vulnerable. Dozens of native South Australian birds have been categorised as being very highly susceptible to the disease, and many of these species are already vulnerable or endangered. There are more fears, for example, than it might spread to Seal Bay and Kangaroo Island and affect the endangered seal colony there.

While the disease can't be eradicated or contained, the best we can do is prepare. We've invested $113 million in preparedness measures, including over $47 million in wildlife resilience and protective action for threatened and priority species, $99 million in a recent budget for the Saving Native Species program. We've committed nearly $25 million to the H5 national management agreement to facilitate a coordinated response, and we're vaccinating our native birds in captivity.

The South Australian government has invested over $1.2 million to enhance testing and decontamination capability, and South Australian wildlife organisations have received funding to upgrade their biosecurity measures. I'd like to thank the Minister for the Environment and Water, Murray Watt, and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins, for their attention and commitment to mitigating this disaster.