Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Of course we know Australia's best agricultural show is the Whittlesea Show. With 165 years of continuous show, this marvellous event is recognised as one of the most popular agricultural shows in the state. It's great to watch the community come together, to catch up with old friends across the region and also to thank residents and organisations for their continued support for what the Labor government is doing for us and our community.

The Whittlesea Show has it all: woodchopping, carnival rides, trade exhibitions, livestock and animal competitions, and little kids riding motorbikes, with their helmets looking bigger than the motorbikes themselves. But they're out there having a ball in the grand parade and just having fun. There's also all the local cuisine and other things, like craft and photography. You name it, it's there and everyone is having a great time. Congratulations to the Whittlesea Agricultural Society for another fantastic showing. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our tent to have a chat.

Sadly on the Saturday night there were some terrible winds that came through and knocked down quite a few of the marquees. It meant that a lot of the exhibitors lost all their product. One gin distiller lost every single bottle that was in there as his marquee blew over. But what happened on Sunday morning? Everyone was out there helping and trying to put it all back together to make sure that the show stayed on. It was just great fun on the Sunday. I spent the day with the Lions doing tickets and having a ball. It was a fantastic event.

On 26 October it was my utmost pleasure to attend the 30th anniversary of UGFM. UGFM is Upper Goulburn radio, and it graces our local airways, providing essential information to keep communities safe in times of emergency and uncertainty. It's a beacon of local news that you can trust, particularly in times when our community is suffering the most. Through the Black Saturday bushfires, the flash floods and the wind damage, they're always there with accurate, on-time real information. It also keeps us updated about festivities, events and local news, demonstrating why community radio is so important in rural and regional areas. It's a testament to why we need to keep them on air. Peter Weeks, one of the presenters, who I have been having a chat with every fortnight for over 12 years now, also got inducted into the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia's honour roll, which is a fantastic achievement. I wish them well for another 30 years. It's an institution that we rely on very much because of the importance it plays.

Lastly this Sunday my wife, Lisa, and I will join Mike Garnett and members of the Romsey-Lancefield Rotary Club to unveil two plaques on the Avenue of Honour between Romsey and Lancefield. These plaques will join the plaques that I secured $8,000 of funding for. The one we're launching this year is the Tobruk campaign plaque. It's important to both of us because both of our grandfathers served at Tobruk as rats. It's been a great honour to work with the rotary club to get this done. We'll have our one done and the other one done, which will be the Malayan campaign, which was supported by members of the Romsey-Lancefield Rotary Club.

Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.