Harish Velji, the first person from the Sub-Continentcommunity to receive the Australian Labor Party’s prestigiousMcKellAward for Community Services was accorded the special privilege to announce that Daniel Mookhey from the Labor Party has been electedinto the Parliament of New South Wales.
Born in Australia and having Indian ancestry, Daniel Mookheywas introduced to a full packed media function on the night. Daniel has already been elected into the Upper House of the New South Wales Parliament; making him the third person from theSub-Continent community to be in Parliament within Australia. Others includeLisa Singh in Federal Parliament and Jude Parera in Victoria;both who are incidentally from the Labor Party.
Prue Car who is of Bengali heritage was also introduced as a contestant for the seat of Londonderry. Prue has also been a councillor in Penrith for the last eight years.
The third person to be introduced was Aisha Amjad. Aisha is of Pakistani heritage and is a potential member of the Upper House in the Parliament of New South Wales. She is the first person from the Labor party who is of Sub-Continent heritage to contend for the seat.
“I believe in people before politics and the importance of establishing relationships with individuals and links with communities which go beyond any electoral cycle. Although having parents from Pakistan – I consider myself a part of each and every subcontinent community” said Aisha Amjad.
“I also believe in our subcontinent community. Our people are our greatest assets – because of the values, which they possess like commitment to family and faith, working hard and helping others. From the peoplewho run the media often own time and expense as well as other jobs, to the wonderful people who continue to run cultural and community events.
Prue Car said, “Liberal choices are hurting our community. Their cuts to our schools and TAFE are making it harder for young people to get a good education and secure a stable job. This will only get worse under Tony Abbott’s plan for $100,000 university degrees.

“I will also fight the Liberals’ $3 billion cuts to our health system which have put more pressure on Mount Druitt and Nepean Hospitals. The impact of these cuts will only get worse as a result of Tony Abbott’s $15 billion cuts to health and his GP fee”, he added.

Daniel Mookhey talking about his family said that we are amongst the wave of migration from Sub Continent countries and further added,“My father and my mother, their contribution to the community and what they did because they were the very first wave of migrants was commendable. They spent a lot of their time starting the institutions that we now take for granted. The other thing I’m really proud of is my family and the community.The Mandir in Auburn is such a source of pride to me that every time I go back to the Mandir on Diwali I do GaneshPuja there.

“I think all this would not have been possible if it weren’t for the fact that we had things like this temple and this newspaper. Think about what I want to do in the career to come. I want to make sure that our community that is well and truly past adolescence, that is now about to experience the bloom of its maturity, really has the opportunity to put more people forward into positions of prominence and not just in politics. I’m looking forward to meeting the first Australian Indian CEO of a big corporation”.
Before finishing the formal part of the evening Harish reminded how out of touch is the Liberal Party giving example how in the Vibrant Gujarat the Liberal Federal Minister for Trade, Andrew Robb talked about the beef exports to China that had helped take the trade to two trade to hundred billion Dollars.