Tony Crook (O'Connor, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last weekend, on 9 and 10 March, I had the great pleasure of attending the 40th anniversary of the Wagin Woolorama. The Woolorama is a fantastic weekend celebrating the best that regional Western Australia has to offer. Despite the heat soaring into the high 30s, the Woolorama attracted over 9,000 visitors through the gates over the two days, with families from across regional Western Australia enjoying the show. It will come as no surprise to members of this House to hear that, as the name suggests, the Wagin Woolorama has a strong focus on the sheep industry. As a former sheep producer for more than 30 years I enjoyed getting along to some of the best livestock in Australia.

The Wagin Woolorama came into being in 1972 following a trip to the Dowerin Field Days, which primarily focused on farm machinery. The Wagin Agriculture Society realised that Wagin needed a feature of its own. The strength of Wagin was in the Merino and wool industries and a competition at the local school was held to decide on a name. Peter Jenkin, aged 9, and Mark English, 10, suggested the name Woolorama and won the grand prize of $5. And so the Woolorama was born.

On top of the livestock exhibitions, families are able to enjoy sheepdog trials, a sideshow alley, plenty of local entertainment, a beaut ute competition, a fashion parade—which a lot of the guys get along to—stores featuring local arts and crafts and some great food. The Wagin Woolorama also features one of the best combined displays of farm machinery and equipment assembled in the state, making it a must-visit event for many involved in the agriculture sector.

I enjoyed getting along to the Woolorama with my National WA colleagues. It was a great opportunity to catch up with regional supporters and chat about the issues that are important to them. I would like to congratulate the Woolorama committee, the sponsors and the volunteers who worked so hard to put on this magnificent event. It is a tremendous achievement for a town of only around 2,000 residents to put on an event of this magnitude each year, which Wagin has now been doing for 40 years. For so long the national economy rode on the sheep's back. I love that we still celebrate this every year at the Wagin Woolorama.