15 June 2011 (Photographs courtesy of Rusty Stewart/DLIAL)

His Holiness is in sunny Brisbane for the Queensland leg of his Australian tour. But before I go into that, let me share a small victory for Tibet in the Parliament today.

I wrote in my last blog that Senator Bob Brown moved a motion on the day His Holiness was in Canberra. And I opened my work email this morning to see a short and sweet note from Senator Brown’s office, saying the Senate has passed the Tibet motion. Read the details here.

Once again, I can say that your voice has been heard in the right place and at the right time. The fact that a motion moved by two parliamentary friends of Tibet - Senator Brown and Senator Nick Xenophon - was passed with the support of the coalition clearly demonstrates that every small effort you take does count. In this case, it was your emails and phone calls to your politicians in the past few weeks.

The last time a motion on Tibet was passed in the Senate was back in March 2008 at the peak of the uprising in Lhasa. An astonishing 13 other motions were voted down by major political parties since. So let’s continue to raise our concerns over the Tibet situation with our pollies even long after the Dalai Lama leaves our shores.

Back to my tour update from Brisbane, it was a relief to know that His Holiness had a more relaxed day after very hectic schedules in Melbourne and Canberra. It was nonetheless a memorable one, the highlight being a community forum. He spoke to the Queenslanders on the importance of never giving up - a subject of immense value to a community devastated by a horrific natural disaster not too long ago.
He told the people of Queensland that they have shown the true spirit of community during the January floods, adding this generosity should now transcend their geographical boundaries.

I have had attended a couple of His Holiness’ public events on this tour. Today’s talk felt more special than others. The openness of the venue, the warmth of the people, the relevance of the subject and the Brisbane climate made a picture-perfect setting.

I have also been lucky enough to be a part of the local Tibetan community’s meeting with His Holiness in every city. And each time, I come away feeling more motivated and blessed. At today’s audience, his message was: China controls our country, but not our minds and while we live in exile, it is our duty to tell the world about Tibet. This left the small Tibetan community in Brisbane with an even stronger sense of responsibility.