Not an Indian giver

By Lia Bichel
THE PRESIDENT of a multicultural organisation new to Dandenong said he hoped the council would have offered more support for their first Unity of Diversity festival.
Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) President Vasan Srinivasan said he thought the council would have granted at least $10,000 of the organisation’s $25,000 request, which was made less than two weeks before the Monday meeting.
Instead, the council agreed to grant $6000 in funding after debating about the subject for half an hour at Monday night’s council meeting.
“We have done a lot of work in the area for the last 12 months and expected $10,000 minimum from the council,” he said.
“We need them just like they need us.”
Cr Roz Blades brought up the funding matter as urgent business, stating it had to be discussed prior to the FIAV Festival at Sandown Park on 18 April.
Cr Yvonne Herring said the issue should not be considered urgent business because FIAV should have applied earlier to follow the funding process and to give councillors appropriate time for consideration. She also said she did not know enough information about the organisation.
She was supported by Councillors Peter Brown, Paul Donovan, John Kelly and Maria Sampey.
Mr Srinivasan told the Star the application was not made earlier because of organisational issues.
“We didn’t go through the regular process for applying for funding because it took us some time to organise ourselves after moving to Dandenong in February, and we only recently decided on a venue in Dandenong,” he said.
“We wanted to have the festival here because there are about 55,000 international people in the area. It would also benefit the community.”
When the matter was approved as urgent business, councillors debated the issue for half an hour before they voted five to five to approve the grant- subject to FIAV complying with the council’s budgetary regulations.
As Councillor Loi Truong was an apology from the meeting, Mayor Jim Memeti’s casting vote in favour of the application sealed the deal.
Cr Blades said the council had to be flexible when making funding decisions.
“We need to remember we are dealing with the community, we need to be flexible,” she said.
“It’s an unusual situation that occurred – the group just moved into Dandenong. We are in a position to responsibly respond. By funding this group, it doesn’t mean another group will not receive funding.”
Cr Kelly said he voted against the grant to be fair to other community organisations.
“The organisation might be worthy. But they had plenty of time to apply,” he said.
“I think it’s unfair to other groups who have applied and who missed out.”
Mr Srinivasan said the festival was chosen to be held in April to celebrate the New Years of a number of different cultures. He said it would cost about $75,000 and though they have secured some funding from other organisations, the FIAV might go into debt after the event.
He said he planned to lodge another request to the council to reconsider the amount for funding.
“I would be very happy with $10,000,” he said, “but beggars can’t be choosers.”
The FIAV Unity of Diversity Festival will be held at Sandown Racecourse from 10am on 18 April. Cost per entry is $3 or $10 for a family.