Signature events on Victoria’s multicultural calendar have been accused of becoming partisan promotions, with Premier Jacinta Allan’s private office vetting invitation lists, seating arrangements and speaking opportunities at publicly funded community dinners.
As Allan prepared to take the stage at Wednesday night’s Victorian Iftar Dinner at the Centrepiece venue above Melbourne Park, more than 100 pages of government communications released under freedom of information reveal the political imbalance at taxpayer-funded events, including last year’s $438,000 Premier’s Multicultural Gala Dinner.
A total of 190 seats at the 1200-head gala dinner in August at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre were reserved for Labor MPs, their staff and their guests. The opposition, by contrast, was provided one table, with then-opposition leader Brad Battin and his wife Jo joining the premier at the head table.
The annual dinner was hosted by the Victorian Multicultural Commission and funded through the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
Government communications released to the opposition reveal that shortly after the Premier’s Private Office (PPO) became involved in planning for the dinner, the ticket allocation for Labor MPs was tripled.
A minute from a May 15, 2025 planning meeting states: “Initially there were 67 tickets allocated collectively between the premier, ministers and MPs, however we have now upgraded the allocation list so there are a total of 190 tickets.”
Of these tickets, 42 were complimentary. Complimentary tickets were also offered to Battin, opposition spokesman for multicultural affairs Evan Mulholland, Nationals leader Danny O’Brien and Greens leader Ellen Sandell.
Minutes from later planning meetings show PPO representatives asked for the final say on the entertainment line-up, guest list and choice of MC.
“PPO advised they would like to approve the invitations list,” an email from June 10, 2025 notes. “PPO advised that there were some cultures that the premier may want included into the entertainment mix.”
The premier, Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ingrid Stitt and the federal Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs Julian Hill, were each invited to speak for a combined 15 minutes, followed by Battin.
The theme chosen for the dinner was “Harmony in Diversity”.
Mulholland wrote to the premier last week warning that government-hosted multicultural events were being conducted in a partisan manner.
“These occasions should be aimed at uniting communities and all their elected representatives, rather than being used as an opportunity to advance the political interests of the Labor Party in an election year,” he wrote.
The day after Mulholland sent his letter, Sandell and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson were added to the guest list for this week’s Iftar dinner. However, their offices confirmed the short notice meant they were both unable to attend.
Premier Allan did not respond to questions provided by this masthead. “While the Liberals play politics, we will always stand with Victoria’s multicultural communities and celebrate the diversity that defines our state,” a government spokesman said.
The government communications, which were released following a series of FOI requests by Mulholland, suggest the lopsided guest list at the Multicultural Gala Dinner has become the norm at community events hosted by the Allan government on the public purse.
At a $381,000 Premier’s Diwali State Reception held last October at Centrepiece and attended by dozens of Labor MPs, the opposition was extended just one invitation. While Allan and Stitt each made speeches, and the premier remained on stage for a 10-minute “fireside chat” with Australian-born Bollywood star Pallavi Sharda, Battin was not invited to speak to the sold-out room.
At a smaller function held on Shrove Tuesday in March 2025 to “observe and celebrate Victoria’s Christian communities”, 22 Labor MPs were invited to the $11,400 event that was funded by the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Mulholland said no one from the opposition was invited.
Mulholland said the use of taxpayer funds to pay for politically stacked events could be a form of grey corruption – a term coined by IBAC to describe the misuse of public resources for political ends.
“Community celebrations like Diwali and Lunar New Year should be celebrated with unity, and open for all, not used and abused for political purposes. If the [premier’s office] wants to run Labor Party rallies in an election year, then the Labor Party should fund it,” Mulholland told The Age.
Sandell said public money should be used in the best interests of the community rather than to benefit the government.
“It’s not right for Labor to use taxpayer-funded multicultural community events as partisan political opportunities,” she said. “If the Labor Party wants to promote themselves they should pay for it themselves, not make taxpayers and the community foot the bill.”
The politicisation of multicultural events is frustrating some community leaders. Karan Gandhok, a board member of the Australian Indian Society of Victoria and Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria, and member of the Liberal Party, said publicly funded events should hear from both sides of politics.
“Courtesy demands it, manners demands it and, I think, parliamentary protocol demands it,” he said. “If, as a taxpayer, I’m paying for it, why is the opposition now allowed to speak? It just divides the community further.”
Gandhok said neither the Australian Indian Society of Victoria – Australia’s oldest Indian community organisation – nor the Federation of Indian Associations was invited to attend the Diwali dinner. He believes this is because the organisations are not sufficiently supportive of Labor.
A Muslim community leader left off this week’s Iftar guest list believes he was excluded for the same reason. Adam Saad, a co-founder of the El Rahman charity and mosque in Coolaroo, said he fell off the invitation list after he publicly endorsed a local Liberal candidate in last year’s federal election.
“It is only people who are supporting Labor who got invited,” he said. “It should be for everyone.“
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.