Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Moore, for a great contribution. I feel my adjournment speech is quite trite now, in comparison.

Yesterday was Cup day, the first Tuesday in November, and I think it is appropriate to pay tribute to the men and women working in Australia's racing industry, particularly those in regional Australia. Racing in country Australia is not simply typified by fun filled picnic races where families gather with local community members to have a good day out; it also has a significant calendar of events right around the nation. For me, on Wednesday last week, it was my great pleasure to attend the Jayco Bendigo Cup.

The race has been a feature of the sporting and social life of Bendigo and the goldfields since 1868. I attended as a guest of the Bendigo Jockey Club, and I thank the members of the jockey club for their hospitality on what was an absolutely fantastic carnival day. You could not have asked for a better day. I also commend the club on their vision and strategic action over recent years, which culminated in last Wednesday's event, where the Bendigo Cup was a qualifier race for the Melbourne Cup and attracted international entries and international interest.

The best of spring weather, a quality field of locally trained horses, including Melbourne Cup race runners, and legendary trainers like Bart Cummings and Gai Waterhouse, all added to the festivities and the credibility of the Bendigo Cup. In a card with 10 races on the day, more than 11,000 racegoers saw Tanby win the Bendigo Cup. Mr Deputy President, you will be glad to know that, even though my conservatism did win out on the day and I backed each way and for a win, I did back Tanby on the day. Tanby's stablemate At First Sight also ran in the Bendigo Cup and qualified for the Melbourne Cup in that race. It was great to read in the wrap-up of the race in the Bendigo Advertiser that Tanby's connections described the Bendigo track as the best in regional Australia.

The economic benefits of the Bendigo Cup to a vibrant local industry of Central Victoria cover horse-breeding and training facilities locally, catering, transport, tourism, fashion and accountancy—almost every facet of retail industry and commerce. Last week saw an international focus on Bendigo that would ordinarily be unheard of, and it has given Bendigo the opportunity to showcase to the world how fantastic it is as a region.

Yesterday's Melbourne Cup is also justifiably world famous. Apart from the sheer excitement, the economic impact of the Melbourne Cup is vitally important to the Victorian economy. It is a truly international event, as we saw yesterday, with more than 80 per cent of runners born or raised overseas. According to an economic impact study carried out by the Victoria Racing Club, in 2010 the Cup delivered a $728 million economic benefit to the Australian nation—and that included a $349 million direct economic benefit to Victoria.

The benefits are not just economic. Last year, a total of 368,000 people visited Flemington over the four days of the main race carnival. Almost 110,000 of those people were interstate visitors, and a staggering 20,000 were from overseas. What a boon to tourism, not just over the racing carnival but also in the stories these tourists tell when they get back home.

Just to put some of these figures into perspective, part of the economic impact on Melbourne and its surrounds, including the retail industry in Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, was the purchase of the Imelda-Marcos-dwarfing number of 37,623 pairs of shoes to wear to the Cup carnival—and that does not include fascinators and millinery purchases. Altogether, the retail industry benefited through the spending of $326 million on simply fashion items, right there.

The Cup parade through Melbourne had to be seen to be believed, and yesterday we saw the running of the 151st Melbourne Cup. As a proud Victorian, it was good to see that the race that stops the nation also had an impact on our federal parliament, with the shifting of question time in the House of Representatives and the 10 minutes we cut it short yesterday in the Senate so that we could all enjoy the race. And what a thrilling race it was, with a finish that was probably the closest in history, where the French trained Dunaden narrowly pipped Red Cadeaux at the post. Every day is a proud day to be a Victorian but especially a day like yesterday, with the running of another great Melbourne Cup.