Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a Queenslander, one of my favourite times of the year is when the Royal Queensland Show comes to town. Originally it was called the Brisbane Exhibition, and it is now known as the Ekka. It shows the best Queensland has to offer over 10 very exciting days. This year's Ekka has just finished, and there was something for everyone—arts and crafts, agricultural displays, wood chopping, equestrian ring events, spectacular nightly fireworks shows, the Toyota four-wheel-drive precision driving and the daring motorbike riders, the sideshows, the show bags and fast food. There was even an LNP stand, and I had some time to spend there as well. I was very pleased to be joined by the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Tony Abbott, as he walked through the crowds with me and I showed him around.

I want to congratulate Mr David Thomas, the President of the RNA, and Brendan Christou, the CEO of the RNA, and other RNA committee members on the superb organisation of this year's event.

I want to thank the volunteers who worked at this year's Ekka, particularly the volunteers from the Prince Charles Hospital Foundation, who manned the strawberry ice cream stand, for the brilliant job they did.

Each year more and more people come to the show for this wonderful people's day. Again, it was an outstanding success, with more than 70,000 people attending people's day. I want to thank all of the Queenslanders for their wonderful support for the Ekka. I am already looking forward to another spectacular Ekka for next year.