Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After last year's successful Diwali event, I will again be hosting the Hughes Diwali celebrations on Sunday 1 November between 1 pm and 4 pm at Moorebank High School. Diwali is a festival of lights, and one of the most important events on the Hindu calendar. I am proud to be hosting this event, given its importance to my Australian-Indian constituents.

This year we have the Liverpool City Champion as a major sponsor and we are also proud to showcase fashions and accessories from B Designs, Kumar Tailors, Madhavji Pala Jewellers & Fashions, Alathea Designer Collections, Heena Collection and Poshak. This free public event will be jam-packed with activities for the whole family to enjoy. There will be lots of cultural exhibitions, including a Bollywood-style fashion parade, traditional sari displays, Bollywood dancing and a henna stall. There will be singers, dancers and musicians from the Natraj Academy to provide live entertainment throughout the event.

This year we are also especially pleased to have a special guest at our event—Anupam Sharma—the director and producer of the new movie, unINDIAN, starring Brett Lee, who I was pleased to meet recently during the Starry Sari Night event in Liverpool.

Riverside Indian Restaurant in Moorebank will again be there, offering traditional Indian dishes. I look forward to enjoying the delights of the Indian food, especially that butter chicken. I am sure that this year's Diwali celebrations at Moorebank High School will be lively and have something for everyone.

I will also quickly add that this is exactly the type of multicultural celebrations we want, where people from all backgrounds in Australia can get in and enjoy this Indian cultural festival.