Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I join with you in welcoming the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. This morning I had the pleasure of spending about an hour with him, talking about different matters that we have a common interest in, including the way parliament is run and this Main Committee. It is a pleasure to have someone of his stature here watching us in this Main Committee.

I found it very interesting to listen to the member for New England when he referred to feedlots. I know there is a very interesting agricultural analogy with the centralising of our populations in cities around Australia. That has been going on from time immemorial: as long as this country has been a federation, the population has been going into the cities. I would agree with him in one area: I would not want to bring my children up in the city; I would rather bring them up in the country. I think we would all be better off socially if more people were brought up in rural areas—where there is more of the real world approach to life and a more honest approach to life.

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