Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Sunday 20 September I was delighted to attend the Taste of Coogee festival at Goldstein Reserve, right in the heart of Coogee. In its third year, this terrific beach-side community and family event has gone from strength to strength, with people coming from far and wide to sample and participate in the great food, wine and entertainment that is available in the mainly small businesses in and around Coogee. This year's festival featured a variety of stalls from local businesses such as Poke Hawaiian sushi, the Coogee Pavilion, the Coogee Legions Club and La Spiaggia restaurant with amazing Italian, Spanish, Indian and Japanese cuisine. The crowd of around 20,000 was also kept entertained by great local acts like the Franky Valentine, the Latin singer Richard Fernandez, local singer Holly Summers-Clark and the John Field Band, and the Martini Club finished off the day.

But more than just food and entertainment, the event this year raised an incredible $26,000 for the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation's Richie Benaud Cancer Fund in honour of the legendary cricket player and commentator who of course was a very proud Coogee local. I congratulate all those concerned with the organisation of the event, particularly the small businesses that supported this event in our community, the wonderful patrons and particularly the Coogee Chamber of Commerce, Bernadette Summers and Brenton 'BJ' McHatton.