Kay Elson (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to bring to the attention of parliament two extraordinary events held in my electorate last weekend. Boonah Shire Council hosted the 2006 Tom Quilty Gold Cup endurance ride over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. International, interstate and local horse riders, their horses, strappers and supporters began camping at the Boonah showgrounds for up to 10 days before the event.

The Quilty Cup is the largest endurance ride in the world and the premier equestrian event in Australia. It was held in the little shire of Boonah and was the 41st Quilty Cup to be held internationally. With the support of local volunteers from the Show Society, Lions, Rotary, Guides, Boonah High School, Mount Alford P&C and the National Party Ladies Group, they prepared on average 1,000 meals a day for 10 days for their visitors. Congratulations must be given to these volunteer groups because together they raised $21,000 for the community.

In general it was a great opportunity to showcase the many benefits of this beautiful, friendly part of Queensland to the many hundreds of international visitors and the media at this event. It also proved to be a great boost to the shire’s economy. The visitors expressed their gratitude for and amazement at the wonderful welcome they received and their gratitude to the volunteers who pulled together to stage such a great and memorable event. Thanks must also go to the hosts, the Fassifern Horse and Pony Club under their President, Jill Crowley; the Australian Endurance Riders Association, its vets, stewards and volunteers; and the ride director, Dick Collyer. They and all the community, including the SES and the ambulance service, made this big task and event really happen and it placed Boonah Shire on the big success map. Well done to all concerned.

Another event took place over the same 10 days in the adjoining shire of Beaudesert, the 2006 Beaudesert Country and Horse Festival. This year’s was one of the biggest festivals ever, with interstate and international visitors pouring into Beaudesert. The festival this year had more than 30 different events over 10 days. It ended last Sunday with a massive parade, with 2,000 horses joining the many floats to make a spectacular finish to a very successful festival.

Many volunteers, led by organiser Nancy Moss, worked tirelessly to ensure the progressive international dinners, black-tie ball, trail rides, bush poetry campfire presentations, parade and many other functions over those two weeks ran smoothly and successfully. An enormous job was done, all by volunteers. The festival organisers recognised the support from the generous sponsors and local newspapers, the Beaudesert Times and the Jimboomba Times. In the House today I recognise all their efforts and thank them for staging such a successful event and for placing the shire on the map as the horse capital of Australia.

I would like to especially congratulate Rural Lifestyle Options, an organisation that helps people with disabilities to achieve their potential. They do great work in our community. They have a great network and they are admired by many for their achievements. To add to their achievements, they won the best community float in the festival. Well done to Carole Caswell and all of her team and staff at Rural Lifestyle Options.

While I have a minute or so to spare, I would also like to place on record the great track record of the Howard government in bringing down our unemployment figures. Since March 1996, the coalition has created more than 1.8 million jobs. What is more, three-quarters of all the jobs created in the past two years have been full-time jobs. The unemployment rate is now at a 30-year low at 4.9 per cent. Since the coalition was elected, unemployment has been reduced by 218,000, or 29.6 per cent. There are now more than 7.2 million Australians in full-time employment, the highest number ever, with almost one million full-time jobs created since 1996. Under the coalition, teenage full-time unemployment has fallen by 28.4 per cent. I did have a very high teenage unemployment rate in my electorate and I am so pleased by the success of the Howard government and by seeing many young people in fulfilling jobs and having a future ahead of them. Long-term unemployment now comprises 1.0 per cent of the labour force—the lowest level ever recorded. The number of long-term unemployed is now 48.6 per cent less than under Labor. Under the coalition there have been more full-time jobs created in the last 12 months than there were in the last six years of Labor.