Sada-e-Watan
Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com
Sub Continent Friends of Labor’s Dinner for Thanks Volunteers & Supporters in
the NSW Election
(Coverage By: Syed Zafar Hussain,
Editor-in-Chief Sada-e-Watan Sydney)
Recently Sub Continent Friends of Labor recently held a function to thank its key volunteers and supporters at Himalaya Restaurant Sydney. Sub Continent Friends of Labor was officially launched by the Former Premier Kristina Keneally in late August last year.
In a very short time it has been able to influence results in some seats in Federal and a number of seats in the recent State elections. This group itself has been instrumental in achieving many positive outcomes for the Sub Continent Community such as getting $55,000 for Shakti Temple, $60,000 Ram Krishna Temple, $50,000 United India Association etc. It also arranged a meeting with Federal Minister of Immigration with Indian regarding students visa.
The "thank you" Dinner was very immaculately handled by Master of Ceremony Michelle Rowland, Member for Greenway. Sub Continent Friends of Labor Chairperson, Harish Velji in his speech noted that the function was to thank members and friends for assisting during the recent state elections and to cement the relationships that were developed.
He noted that " Many of you, our colleagues, were put under immense pressure from the certain sections of the Liberal Party, not to support us, as we were expected to lose but you over came that, held firm to your beliefs of fairness and equity that this great party believes in."
He also noted that the Difference between Labor Party tea parties and that organised by the Indian Liberal supporters were " . that no one was subjected to strong arm tactics to host one, by my Labor Party colleagues and also no one was threatened if one had the Liberal Party posters at their homes."
Harish Velji said" Whilst there is an extremely great relationship between the State Labor Party and the Sub Continent community, there are some great challenges that lie ahead for the Federal Labor Party.
"The issue of the student visa, family reunion visa and visa for the parents remain un resolved as far as the Sub Continent community is concerned.
"Whilst the relationship between Australia and India remains on the solid grounds, it is the issue of Australia's policy of not selling Uranium to India for its energy needs remains a thorn.
"Australia’s policy of selling only to signatories of NPT (Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty) is redundant and needs to be relooked to allow full potential in strategic partnership."
"As one put it "should India pursue nuclear energy to solve its crippling energy shortage? Or should it stumble along, uncertain about the alternatives and keeping 40% of its people in the dark?"
"Sub Continent Friends of Labor urges its colleagues in the Federal Government to reverse this policy."
"We at also take this opportunity to deeply acknowledge, extremely great work done by the newly elected members of the Federal Parliament, Ed Husic and in particular Michelle Rowland who have taken the relationship with Sub Continent Community to new great heights." He also announced that "Next year if all the stars are aligned, we are proposing to take a trip to India of both the state and federal members." Our plans are to visit Bangalore, Mumbai, Ahmadabad & Delhi, naturally a side trip to Agra via Mathura and Vrindaband and Amritsar coinciding with a trip to the Golden temple."
Both Leader of Opposition, Hon John Robertson and Former Premier of NSW Hon Nathan Rees had very lavish praise for Harish Velji, Chairperson Sub Continent Friends of Labor. They talked about his leadership qualities and expressing sincere gratitude to him and his team (including Ejaz Khan, John Niven, Balarj Sangha, Mukesh Maru, Balaji Venketaranghan, Amarinder Bajwa, Moninder Singh, Jay Hasour, Prabjhot Sandhu) for getting them elected.
Hon. John Robertson noted that because of the dedicated volunteers why so many members held the seats against the tide. He also noted that "We cannot win every battle, every time. But Labor is part of something much greater than any one moment or any one election. Labor is part of a constant striving to keep fairness at the centre of economic development and participation, a striving that has underpinned the greatness of the Australian story and that is greatness that we have a society where fair treatment and economic prosperity have been proven to go hand in hand"
"And while we do not win every battle we have delivered for more than a century, delivered a constant progress that has improved the lives, health and security of every family in this country.
Michelle Rowland Member for Greenway said "A wonderful evening was had by all on Friday 6 May, when a cross-section of individuals and representatives from a range of Indian Sub-Continent community groups gathered at the Himalaya Restaurant in Granville."
The occasion was to receive thanks from local State MPs for their assistance and commitment during the 2011 NSW election. But more than that it was an opportunity for me to thank so many people from the Muslim, Sikh, Tamil and Bangladeshi communities – to name a few – for welcoming and educating me in their respective cultures and aspirations."
