Wednesday, 15 October 2025

 Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (10:02): I recently joined many community members at the Officer gurdwara for their Shared Plates, Shared Stories event as part of the Victorian Seniors Festival. I attended alongside the member for South-East Metropolitan, Mr Tarlamis, from the other place, Senator Lisa Darmanin and mayor of Cardinia council, Jack Kowarzik. It was an excellent event where locals brought along a meal and shared food, culture and conversation. It really typified community in our area and indeed it showed off our state’s diversity as well. Thank you to a really unifying community leader and volunteer at the Officer gurdwara, Harpreet Singh Kandra, for his efforts in organising this event and for always bringing people together.

The gurdwara is not only a place of worship but it is also a community hub which supports many in my electorate by dispersing important information about topics such as healthy and cheap eating, providing emergency relief and advocating for social issues like the environment and water safety in multicultural communities. The gurdwara frequently hosts cultural events and community days like this senior event, and the Victorian government is very proud to support events as part of the annual Victorian Seniors Festival. The festival celebrates ageing positively, promotes good health and wellbeing and encourages social connections. Thank you once again to the Officer gurdwara for inviting me to this wonderful event, and thank you to all the volunteers and local organisations who attended.