Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

On 9 January 1997 Tony Bullimore, the lone yachtsman from the United Kingdom, was plucked from the Antarctic great Southern Ocean. The waters were freezing. His vessel had upturned, and he was in the capsized hull. Tim Fischer, then acting Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals, announced to the world that the rescue had been made by our wonderful Defence people from Big Hill on the Hume and Hovell Track. It was on Tumbatrek, and he had a bevy of journalists there. Tim was a great raconteur. He was great at getting promotion for the tourism aspects of Mount Kosciuszko and the beautiful snowy valleys. He made every moment a winner. He was on his fabled Tumbatrek. He started it in 1985. When he left the parliament, the Tumbatrek went into recess. It was revived after a radio interview on the ABC at Junee. He dobbed me in to say that I would revive it. I had no knowledge, of course. This was two-minute Tim. We loved him. We still do, even though he's passed. When the Riverina boundaries changed and it went into Eden-Monaro, the member for Eden Monaro, Kristy McBain, the minister sitting opposite, continued the famous walk. I passed on Tim's famous walking stick to the minister. It was a little bit longer than she really would have liked, and she did request that she might take a couple of centimetres off the bottom of it. I said: 'Don't do that. It's Tim's stick. We need to keep it intact.' She subsequently passed it back to me because the boundaries are coming back into the Riverina. The poor people of Tumbarumba would just like to be in the one electorate for just a little given time.

Tumbatrek on Saturday was just wonderful. It's 12.4 kilometres through the pristine wilderness. Kristy knows exactly what I'm talking about. I heap praise on Julia Ham, the Snowy Valleys mayor, and her council staff. They do an amazing job to hold this annual event. Grant Harris; his wife, Deb; Glen McGrath; and his wife, Vanessa, were at the front and the back of the walk. They kept everybody located. It's an amazing walk, and I urge and encourage anybody to do it. There were 150 people who took part. It was fabulous, and it does promote Tumarumba. It's a beautiful area. It's part of the Snowy Valleys Council. Like I said, it was one hell of a walk on Saturday. Big Hill was very well known. It took quite some doing, but may Tumbatrek long continue, whomever is representing that beautiful, pristine part of the world.

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