Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Premier Daniel Andrews and other esteemed guests have been welcomed to Box Hill on Saturday for the 2023 Whitehorse Lunar New Year Festival.
The event, hosted by the Asian Business Association of Whitehorse with a long history of support from the Whitehorse City Council, will celebrate the year of the Rabbit. The Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace and prosperity in Chinese culture.
Mayor Mark Lane said: "I'm not surprised so many leaders have made the effort to come to Box Hill to celebrate Lunar New Year.
"Box Hill is a thriving multicultural success story, where migration has directly contributed to the prosperity and cultural richness of our city. I'm proud of our strong, diverse community here in Box Hill, and across Whitehorse."
Whitehorse City Council is pleased to continue its support for the event by providing third party event safety and traffic management contractors to help with compliance, planning and event management.
"This collaboration ensures a fantastic community festival for the people of Whitehorse and beyond, to experience something different and to share in special cultural traditions that go back thousands of years. The festival also gives a welcome boost to local traders."
Other guests included: The Honourable Andrew Giles MP, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, the Hon. Colin Brookes MP, Victorian Minister for Multicultural affairs, The Hon. Michael Sukkar MP, Dr Carina Garland MP, Mr Keith Wolahan MP, Mr Paul Hamer MP, Mr Will Fowles MP, Mr John Mullahy MP, Mr Matt Fregon MP, Ms Jess Wilson MP, Dr Matthew Bach MLC Mr. Zeng Jianhua, Acting Chinese Consulate General in Melbourne, Victorian Multicultural Commission; chairperson Vivienne Nguyen and vice chair and Whitehorse local Mr Bwe Thay, Bihong Wang, President of the Asian Business Association of Whitehorse.
