Download Fragment

Thursday, 22 September 2011
Page: 11220

Mr McCORMACK (Riverina) (13:48): The Henty Machinery Field Days is a three-day expo promoting all things country. The event, which this year celebrates its 49th anniversary since the first field days, winds up today on the Cookardinia Road just off the Olympic Highway, midway between Wagga Wagga and Albury. The catchy traditional jingle used to promote the Henty Field Days is:

Going to the Henty Field Days, a lot of good people there. See you at the Henty Field Days, there's nothing like it anywhere!

There were a lot of good people at this year's event. And they had two common themes. What do you think they were? Change the government and no carbon tax. The Nationals Riverina Electorate Council chairman, Wes Fang, said people were so keen to register their protest against this insidious, unwanted and unnecessary tax that they used up all of the petition sheets. 'We weren't soliciting support,' he told me, 'they were coming up to us.'

The Liberal state member for Wagga Wagga, Daryl Maguire, said he had queues 10 deep of people signing a similar petition. More than 1,000 signatures were collected and only one person, just one, declined because he believed in the concept—1,000d to one. It sounds like a Labor asylum seeker policy. Debate in this chamber on the carbon tax may be guillotined to rush through the legislation so the alternative Prime Minister, Senator Bob Brown, can get to Durban and spruik it at a world climate conference. What a disgrace! How undemocratic!