John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday, I had the envious honour to be a guest judge for the annual Lunar New Year Cooking Competition in the heart of my wonderfully diverse electorate of Bennelong. With the Lunar New Year being the Year of the Rooster, it was appropriate that the core ingredient had to be chicken. The blind taste test produced the Ryde Local Area Command police as the winners. Well done, and a big thank you for your service to our community and for keeping us safe. But this event was merely the entree—please excuse the pun! This coming Saturday, Eastwood will again be hosting their Grand Celebration Day. Thousands of people will gather for an extravaganza of Asian cultures, with food, music, sports, dancing and merriment everywhere. All these celebrations are organised by the incredible hand of Hugh Lee and his team. Hugh has been a stalwart of the community for decades. We are very lucky to have him. Thank you again, Hugh.

Our community's strength is its diversity. I am always proud to see the large numbers of people from all backgrounds who turn out to see this wonderful display of Korean and Chinese cultures. This fusion is what makes our part of Sydney great and what makes me so proud to be its representative.