I would like to welcome you all on the behalf of Pakistan Association of Australia and thank you for accepting our invitation and taking out your valuable time to be here with us. I would also like to acknowledge our other distinguished guests:

Mainly our Chief Guest, His Excellency Peter Heyward High Commissioner for Australia to Pakistan.

Respectable , Sardar Balakh Sher Khosa, Counsellor Community Welfare, Pakistan Consulate Sydney.

One and only Hon. Dr. Mehreen Faruqi Member Legislative Assembly , New South Wales

Our beloved brother Hon. Shaoquette Mosalmane Member Legislative Assembly ,New South Wales

Respectable, Imran Saeed ,( Austrade Australia) Regional Business Development Manager (Punjab), Pakistan , he came from Melbourne to join us tonight.

It is an honour and privilege for me to formally welcome and introduce to you a man of High office with a high moral values , who is sincere and devoted to bringing the Pakistani and Australian communities together ,His Excellency Peter Heyward High Commissioner for Australia to Pakistan.

H.E. Heyward has honored us by accepting our invitation to be with us for this function. We are humbled and will always remain indebted to you for this kind gesture. I hope this consideration becomes an example to many others who seem to be overly busy at times.

Now that you have been based in Pakistan for more than a year you would have seen the struggle and aspirations of the new generation in Pakistan and no doubt, have gone out of your way to assist and advise the needy many times.

One of the common issues is the difficulties Pakistan public face in obtaining various visas to Australia. You have observed that many of the conditions regarding visas could be and should be changed.

We collectively request that you look into the visa regarding family reunion because without this many of the families have been torn apart and there is a dire need to address this issue and bring in ample changes as soon as possible.

We also request to you and Members of the parliament that efforts should be made to introduce skills Assessment Centre in Pakistan Like other neighboring countries. This would alleviate many associated problems.

We are great believers in bridging communities through dialogue and inter-communal activities and both here and in Pakistan and request for assistance in this regard. We are constantly on lookout for opportunities to bridge this gap between Pakistani and Australian communities to bring about harmony and co-operation and believe that high office such as yours and Pakistan Association of Australia could play instrumental role in assisting us achieve our goals and objectives.

I request you, and our members of the parliament to give strength to our voice in bringing about changes in ideas to form a strong ties between our two nations so that we may feel proud to be associated with both nations. I know that with your input a lot of our dreams can come true.

Thank you again,

Pakistan Zindabad

President PAA Mr. Shahid Iqbal Chaudhry speaking at the dinner hosted for His Excellency Peter Heyward