Altona electorate community festivals
Ms HENNESSY (Altona—Attorney-General, Minister for Workplace Safety) (09:41): I wanted to rise to pass on my congratulations to all of those involved in the Point Cook Cultural Community committee for developing and hosting another successful Lunar New Year festival at the Point Cook Town Centre. We know that we are seeing some significant pressure, particularly on cultural festivals and more so in respect of the Chinese community, and I wanted to pay a special tribute to the committee for the organisation that they put in place. I wanted to also acknowledge in particular Bob Fairclough, who is a great lion and a great leader in Melbourne’s west, for the leadership role that he played, not only in respect of the organisation of the lunar festival; also, in particular on cultural diversity he is a fabulous champion. I wanted to pay my deepest respects and express my appreciation to him and to his work.
I also wanted to acknowledge all of the organisers for the Laverton community festival as well. This is one of the fabulous events on the Laverton annual calendar and there was fabulous representation, not only from communities and local businesses but also particularly the young people who live in Laverton, who look forward to this day. The organisers again should hold their heads high with great pride as to what they have delivered to our local community, and again, my deepest thanks to all those involved.