NSW:Western Sydney minister invites McGuire

AAP General News (Australia)
02-11-2011
NSW:Western Sydney minister invites McGuire

By Isabel Hayes

SYDNEY, Feb 11 AAP - Eddie McGuire has been invited to dine with Minister for Western
Sydney David Borger and sample the area's cuisine - and falafel needn't be on the menu.

Mr McGuire is under fire for calling western Sydney the "land of the falafel" on his
Triple M breakfast show on Thursday morning, when he said Greater Western Sydney Giants
recruits would soon get tired of living there.

"I invite Mr McGuire to come and spend the day in Granville with me and my family to
see how great our region really is," Mr Borger said on Friday.

He called on the president of the Collingwood Football Club to apologise for his "quite
frankly ridiculous and offensive" remarks.

"If he wants to talk great food, there are a host of Australian, Vietnamese, Indian,
Chinese, Turkish and Lebanese restaurants we could meet at," the state MP said.

"I also know a great local take-out that sells falafel that would knock his socks off."

Mr Borger said western Sydney was a "fantastic" place to live and work.

"Just ask the almost two million people who live here," he said.

"The people of western Sydney are proud of where we live, and we frankly don't care
about the views of Melbourne multi-millionaires."

MP for the western Sydney electorate of Macquarie Fields, Andrew McDonald, had his
own invitation for McGuire.

"We've got much more than falafel out here," Mr McDonald told AAP.

"This is the land of opportunity. The people of western Sydney are the nicest people
in the world and he should come out and meet them."

Another MP from the west, Blacktown's Paul Gibson, said it was obvious McGuire didn't
know what he was talking about.

"We've got more people living in western Sydney than in Western Australia, Tasmania
and the Northern Territory," he said.

"Maybe he might want to go and live in one of those states."

Penrith Mayor Kevin Crameri said Mr McGuire was out of order.

"It is a slander on us and we reject his comments," he told AAP.

"This is a wonderful area."

AAP ih/tr/was/jl

KEYWORD: MCGUIRE

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