Daniel Andrews deflects accusation Labor ‘hijacked’ Diwali dinner

The Victorian Premier wouldn’t be drawn on why the only Indian-born member of Victorian parliament did not receive an invitation to his taxpayer-funded Diwali celebration.

ALP candidates Kathleen Matthews-Ward (red jacket), Luba Grigorovitch (right of her) and Belinda Wilson (far right).

Daniel Andrews has repeatedly deflected when asked why the only Indian-born member of Victorian parliament did not receive an invitation to his taxpayer-funded Diwali celebration earlier this week.

Members of Victoria’s Indian community, including upper house former Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela, have accused the Victorian Premier of “hijacking” the religious event he hosted at Melbourne’s showgrounds on Monday night, after more than 15 ALP MPs and candidates for next month’s election attended.

Asked why Ms Vaghela had not received an invitation, Mr Andrews said: “Well there were hundreds of people there, and I’m not sure why there were hundreds rather than thousands, but there were hundreds, and it was a fantastic night.”

“It was a great way to celebrate what is the biggest Indian community, biggest Hindu community, fastest growing community, as part of our multiculturalism,” Mr Andrews said.

“It was a terrific night. I was humbled to be there with many, many community leaders, and again, it was a very, very good night, and with the Census data just recently, I think we’ll finish up with our Indian community, and then almost certainly our Hindu community beyond, will be the biggest single community in our state, and that is very important.”

Asked to respond to the view that he had “hijacked” the event for Labor campaign purposes, Mr Andrews said: “That’s simply wrong. No one raised that issue with me, and I must have had about 400 photographs taken.”

“I literally said hello to everyone that was there, all 650 of them. No one raised that concern with me,” Mr Andrews said.

“It was a wonderful night, a great celebration of our multiculturalism, of the multifaith nature of our state. Diwali is all about that triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, hope over fear. (It was) a fantastic, fantastic evening, and I was delighted to be there and proud to be there. No one raised any such concerns with me at all.”

Asked who had determined the guest list, and why Ms Vaghela had not been invited, Mr Andrews said party leaders had been invited.

The Australian understands Opposition Leader Matthew Guy did receive an invitation, but attended a Diwali event elsewhere.

“I didn’t sit down and draft the list personally myself, but I’ll have to come back to you,” Mr Andrews said.

“But in terms of ... the evening, it was a fantastic success, and we’re going to do it every year, a point I made on the night I think, just as we have the Iftar dinner every year, just as we have many other (Victorian Multicultural Commission)-sponsored events that celebrate our multiculturalism and bring us all together with a sense of unity.

“All party leaders were invited. It’s a busy time of year, others must have had other things to do, but I was certainly proud to be there, and by all accounts, it was a very, very good night.”

Ms Vaghela, who quit Labor last year claiming she was the victim of internal party bullying, said despite her Indian heritage, she was not invited to Monday evening’s religious event at the Melbourne Showgrounds.

“As the only Indian MP in the history of the Victorian parliament, it saddens me that I was not invited to the Premier’s Diwali state reception when Labor MPs and Labor candidates were out in full force,” she said.

“This is another example of more than two years of isolation, harassment and bullying that I have been subjected to by Labor.

“The Premier seems not to understand that the event was not funded by Labor for the election campaign but it was funded by the taxpayers.”

Dozens of photos posted on Facebook by Labor MPs and candidates from the Diwali reception, which is estimated to have cost several hundred thousand dollars, show them mixing with Indian community leaders.

One image posted on Facebook captured three Labor candidates in key seats – Kathleen Matthews-Ward, running in Broadmeadows, Belinda Wilson, running in Narre Warren North, and Luba Grigorovitch, running in Kororoit – posing with Indian community members at the publicly funded event.

Other Labor candidates photographed at the Diwali event included Mat Hilakari, who is contesting Point Cook, Malik Zaveer, who is running in Berwick, and Lauren Kathage, who is the ALP candidate in Yan Yean.

Multicultural Affairs Minister Ros Spence, second from left, and Premier Daniel Andrews, centre, at the Diwali state reception on Monday

Mr Andrews and his Multicultural Affairs Minister, Ros Spence, hosted Monday’s Diwali reception, which was attended by an estimated 650 guests, many of them community leaders among Melbourne's 170,000-strong Indian community.

Other Labor MPs who attended the event included Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, Melton MP Steve McGhie, Footscray MP Katie Hall, upper house MP Tien Kieu, Clarinda MP Meng Heang Tak, upper house MP Ingrid Stitt and Cranbourne MP Pauline Richards.

The Andrews government did not respond to questions from The Australian as to why so many Labor MPs and ALP candidates were invited, saying the leaders of the Liberals, Nationals and Greens were also invited.

“Diwali is one of the most important occasions for Hindu ­people in Victoria, and throughout the world; the only purpose of the event was to celebrate that,” a government spokesperson said.

The government did not respond when asked why Ms ­Vaghela was not invited.

Liberal leader Matthew Guy was invited by the government to attend the event but declined and attended a separate Indian event,

Ravi Ragupathy, an Indian-born Australian running in the November 26 election as an independent candidate in Victoria’s upper house, attacked the Andrews government for blitzing the Diwali reception with Labor MPs and candidates.

“The Diwali event was funded by taxpayer money, not Labor money, and it should not have been treated as an election campaign event,” he said.

Mr Ragupathy also said some in the Indian community were angered by the fact alcohol and meat dishes were served at the Diwali state reception.

“My blood is boiling when I see people drinking alcohol and eating non-vegetarian in Diwali Hindu festival,” he said.

Responding to these concerns, the Andrews government said all food provided was vegetarian and alcohol was available only on request and not placed on tables.