Every year the Premier puts on a reception at Parliament House for Chinese New Year, inviting many business councils, community groups and business representatives. This year the event was held at the Convention Centre, I think possibly because the Parliament House carpark was flooded recently and is still being repaired (although the Convention Centre carpark is in a bit of disarray as well).
As with every year AMBCQ was invited along to enjoy the evening, and we are asked to nominate some of our members to come along too. We try to circulate this somewhat every year so that everyone gets an opportunity to come along - the Premier also has an Indian Community reception in November to coincide with Deepavali and AMBCQ is also invited along to that event. The Chinese New Year event sees members of many communities, including the Taiwanese, Malaysian, Singaporean, mainland Chinese, ABCs (Australian born Chinese), PNG Chinese, and many other communities represented.
The Premier spoke as did Mr Ren Gongping, the Consul-General for the People's Republic of China, and there was also a lion dance. The Chinese Historical Association, which includes our former President, Leong Teoh, also had a display of Chinese-Australian history housed in the venue for invitees to peruse. Other Members of Parliament present included the Hon John Mickel MLA, Speaker of the House, the Hon Michael Choi MLA, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade, Mines and Energy, and Natural Resources, the Hon Andrew Fraser MLA, Treasurer, and the Hon Julie Attwood MLA, Parliamentary Secretary for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs.
It was a good evening to catch up with our members, representatives from other communities, MPs, and friends, and also meet new contacts.
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