With fast bowler Brett Lee as the star attraction, weeklong celebrations of India’s 60th Independence Day were kicked off in Sydney Olympic Park.
SYDNEY: With fast bowler Brett Lee as the star attraction, weeklong celebrations of India’s 60th Independence Day were kicked off here with an India-Australia Friendship Fair attracting 22,000 people in Sydney Olympic Park.
Brett Lee charmed the audience on Sunday with Hindi sprinkled in his speech. Lee is heading to India Aug 19 to record another number with Asha Bhonsle. He was mobbed like a film star but said his current cricket commitments wouldn’t leave him with time to act in a Bollywood film even though he had received some offers.
Among the dignitaries was Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Kevin Andrews, getting his blood pressure and cholesterol checked by doctors of Indian origin.
Andrews, in the spotlight since he cancelled freed terror suspect Muhammad Haneef’s work visa last month, stressed how professional the Indian doctors carrying out the service had been and how valued they were to the country.
The chief guest at the fair, New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma, said people of Indian origin were a model community, responsible and law-abiding citizens, who should be treated with the respect they deserve.
The fair, which attracted only 250 people in 1994, has grown manifold to become one of Australia’s largest cultural events, next only to the Chinese New Year.
Organised by the United India Association (UIA), it represents 18 Indian communities in the country, the fair is living up to its commitment of multiculturalism. The 100-odd stalls at the fair offered all that one needed to know about Indians in Australia.
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