Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, I was pleased to be back in the New South Wales Riverina by the banks of the mighty Murrumbidgee River for the 145th Hay Show. If you worked in the shearing sheds, as I did through the 1980s, Hay was notorious as a place shearers would avoid due to some particularly big, rough and wrinkly merino sheep. While tough for shearers, it was good for graziers, with this region being the birthplace of the modern merino and at the centre of a golden era for Australia's wool industry. So it wasn't surprising to see some magnificent fleeces on display, along with superb garden produce, fabulous flowers and children's crafts. By far, the largest gathering assembled for the dog jump, with a dozen or so dogs, mainly kelpies, facing up to what from a dog's height must have looked like an unassailable rock face. To see them jump and scramble over an obstacle several times their size, with owners alongside to catch their mate if they didn't quite make it, was quite something. The winner was from interstate, with owner Gary from Tungamah in Victoria joining us later for a drink at the 'Riv' hotel and telling me that a ribbon for 'Bluey' meant much more than the prize money.

Congratulations to Jill Chapman, president of the show society, and all the volunteers, who worked so hard to showcase this unique town and region. Hay may have developed off the sheep's back, but it is growing in prosperity through developments in irrigated agriculture, as cotton now joins rice in helping maintain the region's healthy future.