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Chairperson Sub Continent Friends of Labor Mr. Harish Velji

Sub Continent Friends of Labor hosted 4th Media Dinner at Himalaya Restaurant Sydney

On Friday, 8th November 2013, the 4th annual Sub Continent Friends of Labor media dinner was held at the Himalaya Restaurant, Granville Sydney. The dinner was attended by more than 120 dignitaries including Hon Chris Bowen, Hon Tony Burke, Hon Michelle Rowland, Chris Hayes MP, Senator Sam Dastyari, Hon John Robertson, Hon Linda Burney, Hon Michael Daley, Hon Amanda Fazio, Hon Peter Primrose, Tania Mahaulik, Adam Searle MLC, Sophie Cotsis MLC, Shaoquett Moselmane MLC, Greg Donnelly MLC, Clr Prue Carr and others.

There was an overwhelming feeling with the parliamentarians present and also the head office staff present, that the Sub Continent Friends of Labor dinner is the most organised and powerful group within the Labor Party today.

Speaker after speaker congratulated the leadership of the group consisting of its Chairperson Harish Velji and the Vice Chairperson Ejaz Khan for providing the leadership and for the other groups of Labor Friends to follow.

Harish Velji in his speech gave the year in the review for the group and the Labor Party. He outlined its success in Western Sydney during the federal elections. The results at the Miranda state by election indicated all is not well within the New South Wales Liberal Government. He briefly outlined why the Liberal Party is danger to the the social cohesion of Australia.

Shadow Treasurer, Hon Chris Bowen said "Engagement and communication with all peoples is essential. The S.F.L headed by Harish Velji, Ejaz Khan, and notable others have connected Local MPs with the people they represent. Their partnership with the media has delivered the Labor message to many diverse communities from this region. This was imperative during our time in government and we hope this will continue during our time in opposition."

Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Michelle Rowland joined with Sub-Continent media and the Sub-Continent Friends of Labor in Granville on Friday. Ms Rowland took the opportunity to accuse the Abbott Government of abandoning culturally and linguistically diverse communities by repealing parts of the Racial Discrimination Act.

"Australia is a richly multicultural and diverse country and these laws have acted as protection for these communities against hate speech since they were introduced, Ms Rowland said. "These are laws which were passed in 1995 with bi-partisan support and it is extremely disappointing to see the Government confirm today its plans to scrap these laws." These laws carefully balance the rights of freedom of expression with the rights of individuals and groups to be protected from discriminations based on race and they should be maintained."

Aisha Amjad a member of the Sub Continent Friends of Labor and also Vice President at Women in Film and Television NSW spoke in deep detail on Section 18C, which makes it unlawful to publish material that offends or insults a person or group because ''of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of the person or of some or all of the people in the group'' – the same section Senator Brandis the Federal Minister intends to wind back to protect the likes of Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt.

Tony Burke spoke about the ties with sub continent countries. Whilst State Leader of Opposition spoke about how the Barry O' Farrell Government has let down the community at large.

Ejaz Khan, who was the co MC with Hon Peter Primrose for the evening, thanked all the Mp's present, media representatives, and the other members of the Sub Continent Friends of Labor present. Members being Balraj Sangha, Buphinder Chibber, Varuni Bala, Amarinder Bajwa, Mahendra Lamsal, Suman Saha, Dimpy Sandhu , Aruna Chandrala, Moninder Singh, Navjot Singh, Maxine Salma, Manju Mittal, Mukesh Maru and Bawa Jagdev.

Former Minister, Federal Member of Parliament Hon. Chris Bowen

Former Minister, Federal Member of Parliament Hon. Tony Burke

Chairperson Sub Continent Friends of Labor Mr. Harish Velji

Federal MP, Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multiculturalism Hon. Michelle Rowland

New South Wales Leader of the opposition Hon. John Robertson MP