Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This Wednesday, 28 May, I will have the honour to represent the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Warren Truss at the official opening of the new Katanning saleyards in my electorate of O'Connor. Jointly funded by the federal and state governments, the $25.4 million Katanning saleyards project relocated and constructed a new state-of-the art sheep saleyards that will inject an extra $15 million a year into the Wheatbelt and Great Southern regional economies.

The Katanning saleyards are one of only two weekly sheep saleyards in WA that together account for around 94 per cent of all sheep sold through the saleyard system. It also represents the largest single economic driver within the Shire of Katanning, which is my home town, and provides substantial benefits to the town, the wider Great Southern region and fulfils a crucial role for the region's livestock industry.

The new saleyards has 1,008 pens under four hectares of roofing, accommodating up to 35,000 sheep per sale day, and is the only facility in Australia with water available in all pens. I am proud to say that I had a small role in bringing the WA Premier and the Katanning saleyards committee together to make sure this vitally important piece of rural infrastructure got off the ground, and as a sheep producer, I can confidently say that this is a very important facility for our industry.

I congratulate project managers, The Shire of Katanning, CEO Dean Taylor, and building manager Ernie Menghini and all the hardworking staff and contractors who worked on the construction of this outstanding facility.