Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the past month I've been celebrating Lunar New Year in all corners of my electorate. Over the past weekends, the main streets of St Albans, Footscray and Sunshine have been bustling with people enjoying the celebrations, music, rides, family activities and, of course, delicious Vietnamese food. On Friday night at Quang Minh Buddhist Temple I joined a throng of tens of thousands to ring in the year of the Dragon, an auspicious symbol of strength and good fortune. Quang Minh temple is the largest Vietnamese Buddhist temple in Melbourne's west, under the guidance of the Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan. It is an important social base, a place for people to come together and enjoy their Vietnamese culture and heritage, and also for those from the broader community. The temple also operates a number of important charitable programs, including free meals on Sundays, which many hundreds of people take advantage of every weekend. And the fun isn't over yet. This weekend I'll be attending my electorate's final festival, in Footscray, hosted by the Victorian chapter of the Vietnamese Community in Australia.

A tremendous amount of effort has gone into organising all of these festivals, so I thank St Albans Business Group Association, the Footscray Asian Business Association, the Sunshine Business Association and VCA-Vic for all of their work—and, of course, the countless volunteers and performers and the Maribyrnong and Brimbank councils. To all who celebrate, I wish you a happy Lunar New Year filled with happiness prosperity. Chuc mung nam moi.