Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

After a busy sitting week last week, it was wonderful to return to my seat and celebrate the incredible multicultural and inclusive events across Wyndham over the weekend. I attended the Lunar New Year Festival in Point Cook. This is organised by the Point Cook Cultural Committee, led by president Bob Fairclough and his hardworking team. It was wonderful to join them in their celebrations and great to see the community come together to celebrate lunar new year this year, particularly in light of much talk about the coronavirus. It also gave me the opportunity to meet with Vietnamese and Chinese Australians who live in our great city of Wyndham, many in Point Cook.

On Friday I joined the state Treasurer, Tim Pallas, member for Werribee; our mayor; and Vicki Sutton, CEO of the Melbourne City Mission, to turn a sod on the Melbourne City Mission youth refuge, which will be built in Werribee. I think this is a fantastic project, and it was great to be involved. On Sunday, Wyndham City Council welcomed the Midsumma Festival to Werribee at the Park Lounge. I want to give a shout-out to all of those involved, particularly to Wyndham City Council for supporting our local LGBTQI community.

It was also a pleasure to attend the Virgin Mary Mosque on the weekend. They held a bushfire fundraiser. I had the opportunity to spend some time with our vibrant Muslim community. I want to thank Sheikh Abdulla Hawari, Khaled Ajaj, Dr Seyed Alavi Sheriffdeen and the hardworking Fatima and her incredible crew. They raised over $12,000 for bushfire recovery. It was an incredible day. There were lots and lots of people. I always love to spend time at that mosque, particularly as they're involved in supporting other people in our community. So a big thankyou to everyone who was there and everyone who made a donation.

I'd also, on the same theme, like to acknowledge the Hoppers Crossing Club, who, at the height of the Victorian bushfires, held a fundraiser at the Hoppers Crossing Club and raised funds for our local brigades. They raised, in one evening, $4,444—and, yes, it's an interesting amount!—which meant that they could donate $1,111 to four of our local brigades. It was a fabulous weekend to go home. It reminds me, constantly, about the incredibly multicultural, multifaith, multifaceted and, most importantly, inclusive community that I represent.