Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the 50th anniversary of the Wagin Woolorama. Agricultural shows are the lifeblood of small regional communities, and I think—I might be a little bit biased—the Wagin Woolorama is one of the best, if not the best going around. The people in Dowerin might have a go at me for that, but the Wagin Woolorama is a special show.

Wagin itself is the heart of the Western Australian sheep industry. The Wagin Woolorama is such an important two days for that small community, and the fact that we have finally reached, with a slight delay, the 50th anniversary of celebrating the Wagin Woolorama is a great testament to that local community. Regional shows, country shows, are community driven. They are extraordinary centres of economic progress for communities. They bring communities to life. They bring new people into communities. They bring exhibitors from the city and from other country areas. They allow the community itself to come together and to celebrate what makes those communities great.

What makes the Wagin Woolorama so great is the sheep industry. The sheep industry is centred in that region. Kojonup, Katanning, Nyabing, Wagin—so many small country towns in regional Western Australia are built on the sheep's back, just as Australia was in the 1960s. We've got a dark cloud hanging over that industry at the moment, but at the Wagin Woolorama we're going to see that that community is ready for a fight, ready to stand up for Western Australian sheep farmers, ready to do whatever they can to keep the sheep industry alive.