Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

People living in a regional area, as I do, are absolutely blessed by having country shows, and not just one weekend of country shows. We have country shows just about every single weekend. We started this year on the Australia Day weekend with the Kiama Show, which was absolutely brilliant. The federal government enabled the Kiama Show Society to get a long-awaited stage, so instead of having the young showgirls standing on the back of a truck or doing the presentations from the baseline, where nobody could see anybody, they had a temporary stage that all the other community groups could use as well. We were extremely pleased with that.

The Kiama Showgirl winner for 2018 was Christie Arthur. She comes from Gerringong, one of our heartland dairy areas. I need to congratulate the Kiama Show Society president, Michael Brennan; the senior vice-president, David Barnes; the junior vice-president, Greg Chittick; the treasurer, Ron Gregory; and the ringmaster, who used to be the vet for my puppies, David Chaffey, who does an amazing job. Seriously, the exhibitions, cakes and fruit and vegetables show and reflect what's going on in our communities.

I'd like to mention the other shows as well. We've had the Berry Show, which was absolutely fantastic. They always have a bit of a ball beforehand, where the girls do a presentation speech and we find out about their background and the favourite things they do. Congratulations to Tegan Burt, who became the 2018 Berry Showgirl. I congratulate also Tori Chittick, Kimberley Cotterill, Taylor Lynch and Holly Schornegg. I simply couldn't pick which girl was going to win that one this year! The Berry Show Society's president, Peter Harris; the senior vice-president, Paul Evert; the junior vice-president John Miller; the secretary, Jim Beiler; and the treasurer, Bill Seelis, all did an amazing job.

The Milton showgirl is yet to come. The entrants are Arianne Ingold, Stephanie Kalemusic, Ebony Murray, Emily Jane Joyce, Hayley Perrin and Kiah Findley. Congratulations to all of them for nominating to be showgirl and congratulations to the president, Judith Sloan. The Eurobodalla showgirl winner was Shelli Reid, and the runners-up were Taylah Connaughton and Alicia Bate. Congratulations to the team: president, Bruce Reid; vice-president, Marylin Dredge; secretary, Mary Atkinson; and treasurer, Lindsay Boulton. I have to say I nearly cooked myself while that show was on—it was really warm!

The Nowra show, which is always brilliant, comes under the stewardship of Mrs Wendy Woodward, Tom Cochrane, Mark Stewart, James Thompson and Robyn Nelson, as well as my mate John Bennett in the ring, who always does a sterling job. Congratulations to Sammy Sparks, the Nowra showgirl winner for this year. Kaitlyn Gray was the runner-up. Being a showgirl is not about bikinis and cute dresses; it's about telling the world about agriculture and how important it is to our community. These young women, from one end of the electorate to the other, are doing a phenomenal job of sharing agricultural enterprise and making the most of what we do in the country.

See this speech in context