Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On the weekend I attended a dinner theatre production titled Kick Off Ya Boots in Loxton, a small Riverland town in South Australia. Loxton is a small town but it has a big heart. Loxton's Little Town Productions has performed over 125 times to a collective audience of about 35,000 since it was established back in 1999 by local farmer John Gladigau.

On Friday night I was privileged to be present for opening night at the debut of their most recent production, Living the Dream, which follows the story of the Connors, a typical multigenerational farming family living in regional Australia. While the production was great fun, it was much more than just an entertaining night out with Riverland locals. The production probed some of the underlying issues faced by generational farming family enterprises and offered some tools to meet these challenges.

Rural and regional Australians have been significantly impacted by drought over the past few years, in a time when COVID has made it hard for the community to come together in any meaningful way. The production of Living the Dream saw people come together over good food and good wine, and celebrate what it means to live and work in a rural community. Importantly, it also included strong messages around mental health and wellbeing, and provided some tools for dealing with these issues. I congratulate the whole team at Little Town Productions.

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