Indian origin, Daniel Mookhey, minister for the gig economy and treasurer for NSW, took the oath on the Bhagavad Gita alongside his wife Tamsin Lloyd, director of communications for Tanya Plibersek. Mr. Mookhey became the first Australian minister to swear on the Hindu holy scripture.
Australian politician Nitin Daniel Mookhey was born in 1982. Since May 6, 2015, he has served as a Labor representative in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He was born to Punjabi Indian immigrants in Blacktown, Western Sydney.
A ceremony to swear in Chris Minns as the 47th premier of NSW was placed on Tuesday at Government House.
Prominent Labor Party leaders were also sworn in, including Penny Sharpe as vice president of the Executive Council, Prue Car as deputy premier, and Daniel Mookhey as treasurer. The NSW government also formally welcomed senior ministers Jo Haylen (transport), Ryan Park (health), and Michael Daley (attorney general).
The ministers professed allegiance to God, whereas one among them swore on the Bhagavad Gita for the first time.
Back in 2015, David similarly swore on Bhagavad Gita for the new Upper House MP for New South Wales. He became the first elected official in the country to do so.
After Steve Whan’s failed campaign for a Lower House seat in the March election, the Labor Party chose the then 32-year-old Daniel Mookhey to fill the interim vacancy caused by his withdrawal.
Even though Premier Chris Minns’ majority in the lower house was dwindling with each passing second, he had no such obstacles on Tuesday. The 43-year-old, being accompanied by his wife Anna, promised to serve his country, Australia, and the people of NSW, faithfully and to the best of his abilities.
In other news, over the last months of the election campaign, Mr. Minns wore a bracelet with yellow and red threads, as seen in images from the event.
He claimed to have received it from a visiting guru from the Hindu organisation BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) around six months prior, according to a March interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.
I have a superstitious strand that goes through the Minns line, and I haven’t been willing to get rid of it, he admitted. Mr. Minns stated that because the man couldn’t speak English, he was unable to understand the bracelet’s significance.
Prue Car, Deputy Premier of NSW, said that change and a new beginning have been mandated by the people of NSW.
She said, “this Government has committed to a significant program of investment in education and health, repairing essential services, helping with the cost of living, improving housing and rental supply and affordability, and boosting local manufacturing, jobs and skills. Energy security is also an immediate priority.”
“It is top of our agenda to invest in our education system for current and future generations and start negotiations on public sector wages as we fulfil our commitment to better remunerate our essential workers,” she added.
