Mr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:21): On 13 August, I was very pleased to welcome back the 143rd Crystal Brook Show, which had had a couple of years off because of COVID. The show was opened by the newly decorated Commonwealth marathon gold medallist, Jess Stenson, and it was wonderful to have her in Crystal Brook on the day. The weather was a little inclement; it was cold, it was wintery, but mostly we dodged the showers. It was wonderful to see more than 3½ thousand people roll up after, basically, a three-year absence of the show.
The committee, led by Alexandra Dewar, have done a wonderful job with the volunteers. It’s not easy to crank everything up after that period of time. When they got to the pavilion they found it had been white-anted out, so they had to abandon the old pavilion and relocate all of the general interest items to the stadium alongside it, which led to other changes happening at the show. But they took it all in their stride and got the whole act together. On the day they announced that we have a new Crystal Brook young rural ambassador, Lachie Hansen. So, well done, Lachie. It’s a great pathway that he is embarking upon at the moment.
It was just a good day to be out and about, back with people, as we shake off the COVID blues right around the country and get back to doing the things we have done traditionally and always done. Congratulations to all of them.