Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Services, Territories and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I've got to say it would be downright un-Australian if every member of this parliament did not find themselves down at the Southern Highlands of New South Wales from 1 June right through 30 June to participate in Pie Time. It's Pie Time in the Southern Highlands. You're downright un-Australian if you don't get down there and have a pie.

I'm involved in a very pie-partisan affair with the member for Hume, Angus Taylor. We promoted the event down at the Queen's Terrace Cafe this morning. It's going to be an absolute cracker. I don't care whether your favourites are steak and kidney or steak and pepper or you go for some of these newfangled lasagne pies, a lamb and rosemary pie or a beef pie; we have every pie on offer, every pie imaginable, in the Southern Highlands. From Sutton Forest in the south up to Mittagong in the north, in great towns like Berrima, Moss Vale, Robertson, Mittagong and Burrawang, we've got it all.

It's running for a month. There are literally dozens and dozens of bakeries throughout the Southern Highlands in New South Wales which are going to have their fare in offer. Get onto one of the famous back roads, drop into the Burrawang pub or the Robertson pub—obviously you want to have a designated driver for the day. There is lots of fun to be had.

While I'm giving a shout-out to Pie Time, I also want to give a shout-out to Destination Southern Highlands, who are coordinating and organising the event. The marketing campaign for last year's festival, the Southern Pielands, won silver in the Destination Marketing category for 2017 in the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, a feat that I think we can top this year if every member of this place, their family and friends get on board. It's a short trip down the way from Canberra to get some of the best pies on offer throughout Australia.

I also want to give a shout-out to the principal, the students and the school community of Stella Maris in Shellharbour. A few weeks ago, they celebrated their 60 years of existence with a week-long celebration. They held a special series of events on 20 May—unfortunately, I couldn't get there as I had competing commitments—when they had students past and present gather for a special mass in the morning, a barbecue reunion at lunch time and, something that really grabbed my imagination, a time capsule which they buried, overseen by the two school captains, Andrew and Amali. The time capsule will be opened in 2058, which will be the 100th anniversary of Stella Maris school. Good luck to the school community. You have been doing a fantastic job educating years and years worth of great citizens throughout the Illawarra.

While I'm at it, I want also to say a few kind words about the Rotary Club of Moss Vale. They celebrated 70 years of existence, 70 years of supporting the community and providing great services. They are a great service club through Rotary International. They were formed in 1948 after originally being part of the Rotary Club of Bowral. They've had many, many successes over the years providing funding and person power to worthy causes throughout the Southern Highlands and supporting education and health charities throughout the world. A few examples of this include fundraising support and support for the Bowral cancer research centre. They've been great supporters of the gardens in Moss Vale, for many years have been involved in supporting the Queen Street Centre and were responsible for establishing the first meals on wheels services out of the Queen Street Centre. The meals on wheels has been taken over by another organisation now, but I can say that without the great effort of all the Rotarians at Moss Vale this certainly would not have occurred. This is just another example of the great volunteering and community spirit that I see right throughout my electorate, particularly up in the Southern Highlands. So to all my fellow Rotarians throughout my electorate of Whitlam, but particularly to the members of the Moss Vale Rotary in celebrating their 70-year anniversary: thanks for putting on a great event. We raised a few dollars for the local community. I wish you all the very best for your next 70 years, and I'm sure you are going to do a great job supporting great and worthy projects throughout the Southern Highlands and internationally.

One final plug before I sit down, Deputy Speaker Hogan: don't forget to get up to the Southern Highlands for the Pie Time festival. It's one of the great events on the Southern Highlands calendar.

Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Avery persuasive sales job there on the pies, Member for Whitlam.