Thursday, 6 February 2025

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (09:49): It was great to join Western Gujju Inc and thousands in attendance for Melbourne’s biggest kite festival in Mount Cottrell, which is designed to celebrate the spirit of community and culture as they bring together people from all walks of life to enjoy the art of kite flying. A big thankyou to the Hindu community of the western suburbs, particularly Werribee and Tarneit, for welcoming me as their chief guest. A special thanks to president Bhavesh Patel and also to the Swaminarayan Gurukul Melbourne for their immense support in offering their land for the event and the volunteers for dedicating their time.

On 9 February I visited the Hoppers Crossing gurdwara with my colleague Matthew Guy and Liberal candidate for Werribee Steve Murphy. The local Sikh community live out the values of the community, volunteering and in particular helping those less fortunate, making the Sikh community a cornerstone of generosity in the western suburbs. Locals particularly raised the lack of a pedestrian crossing on Sayers Road in Hoppers Crossing. Despite many promises by western suburbs Labor MPs, no action has been taken, highlighting their neglect of the west.

I also joined the community at Sri Durga Temple in Deanside along with my colleague Matthew Guy and the great Liberal candidate for Werribee Steve Murphy. Thank you to temple president Kulwant Joshi for hosting us. I am looking forward to coming back for their Holi festival next month, hopefully with the newly elected member for Werribee Steve Murphy.