Mr PEDERICK ( Hammond ) ( 12:47 :45 ): I rise, too, to support this motion of the member for Flinders, that this house recognises the 175th anniversary of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia, and applauds its significant contribution in this state, and it is a significant contribution. I note that the Show Society was set up only three years after Europeans hit South Australia, and they have to be commended—Richard Fewster, John Rothwell and the rest of the current board—for what they have done over many, many years.

The Show has to be recognised for what it does, especially in these more modern times, in bridging that rural/urban divide. There are a lot of misconceptions that get out about the handling of animals, and I think it is great that people can bring all forms of livestock here. Whether it is chickens that young school children can see at the Show, or whether it is through the pigs, or the dairy or beef sections, the sheep sections, whatever, the animals are presented in their best and their finest so that people can understand where our primary production comes from.

It gives our primary producers the opportunity to show off their produce, and it is not just about animals. It is about the cropping, the awards that can be given, the jams, all the produce that is produced in our great agricultural and regional areas. I think it is great for the many thousands of people who not only assist with the running of the Show but also attend the Show, and who have done so for all these years.

I want to talk a little bit about some of our country shows. The Coonalpyn Show, just down the road from me, has had a bit of a history with our family. I want to tell a little anecdote about a bloke who used to be a shearer in our district and who has sadly passed away in the last couple of years. There is a true story that, years ago, he went to the Coonalpyn Show with his wife and he never saw her again. So, we have a standing joke in our house that, if Sally goes missing for five minutes, I ring up and say, 'Where have you been? Have you been to the Coonalpyn Show?'

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Yes, that's it. Sadly, with the drain on population in rural areas that we have seen in recent years, I think that it would be far harder for someone to go missing at the Coonalpyn Show. It is a great little show, and they do a great job. I have certainly been2 enlisted at the Coonalpyn Show and Meningie Show also as a beer judge. I put my utmost effort into judging the beers to make sure that I give first prize to the most deserving beer— and I did make sure that I reanalysed all of the beers to make sure that we got the winner. It is great to be involved; it does not matter what you are judging or that kind of thing. I am also an annual entrant in the breadmaking at the Coonalpyn Show, the machine-baked bread, and I have some ribbons, some firsts and sadly some seconds.

The Hon. T.R. Kenyon: Do you use your own flour?

Mr PEDERICK: No, I haven't had the time to grind my own flour.

The Hon. A. Piccolo interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: Madam Deputy Speaker—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I am going to protect the member for Hammond on this one rare opportunity where he needs my help.

Mr PEDERICK: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. No, I think that it is a Laucke bread mix we use. There are a few little things you do to give the presentation that little bit extra, but I am not going to put them on the public record.

Members interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: No, absolutely perfectly legal. I want to note my wife's cooking expertise through the Country Shows Association. I cannot remember which fruit mix it is, but she has managed to get to the regional awards, and I think she has gained a third on that in the last 12 months, so that is quite good.

One thing I must reflect on is a new section in the Coonalpyn Show, the packet mix section. Would anyone think that you would get a prize for making a packet mix? I said to my wife, 'What are you going to do? Do you have to match the photo on the front of the box?' She said, 'No, it's just a matter of trying to get people involved in cooking who maybe haven't as past generations have.' It was funny, but the night before one of the Coonalpyn shows, we had a group of ladies in our kitchen baking their packet mixes. So, it has certainly brought some of the locals together, and they had quite a bit of amusement making their packet mix cakes.

Certainly, there have been some highlights of the Show. I note that the member for Chaffey, when he was talking about going to the Show and the country boys with the moleskins, the RM Williams boots and the blue striped shirt. The Jumbuck Bar was certainly a place to meet and greet, especially on Thursdays at the rams sales at the Show.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Back to the ram show.

Mr PEDERICK: This was certainly a place to see people, and you always made sure that you were up there for the ram sales. I was there in 1989 when Collinsville broke the record. There is a photo of the back of me in the Collinsville book. One of my friend's girlfriends was with me, and I said to her, 'Please don't even flinch.' Because there was some Argentinian competition, there was quite a bit of publicity about where these rams might end up—and the top ram made $450,000.

In the photo in the book, my hair is a lot more tanned than it is now. It was heady days. Sadly, I do not think the ram was much good actually, but that is another story. There was certainly a lot of money around and a lot of hype and excitement. I must say that the Jumbuck Bar was a place where people met their future wife. It was certainly not the place where I met my future wife, but it was one—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan: But I bet plenty of others!

Mr PEDERICK: Careful. Certainly, on one of my first dates, I picked her up at work (she was working at Kinhill as an environmental scientist), and I said, 'We're going to the Show. Let's go.'

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

Mr PEDERICK: No. It was a great thing. It is interesting that, in the last couple of years, I had a significant birthday and Sally had managed to find on Gumtree somehow, in the background of a photo, one of the original Jumbuck Bar signs. So, that is proudly sitting on my verandah because the name of that bar has been changed.

Just in closing, the Show Society has done a magnificent job not just in Adelaide, but right across the state, and I am sure they will do a magnificent job over the next century and beyond. I do not know how you could do better than the function the other night celebrating the society’s 175th anniversary. I know Richard Fewster worked on that. He was a bit nervous about it, but it went like clockwork. It was a great function to attend with quite a few colleagues from this house.

My final comment goes to acknowledge the contribution of the Mad Mouse ride at the sideshow. The Mad Mouse was very historic, and I certainly wanted the opportunity to ride it one last time when I found out it was leaving only a few years ago. So one night after sitting I shot down to the Show and had my last ride on the Mad Mouse, and that will stay with me forever.

The Hon. A. Piccolo: And it never worked again.

Mr PEDERICK: I refuse to respond. Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!

Mr PEDERICK: From a child attending the Show, enjoying all its attributes, until now, it has certainly touched me and my family and many thousands of people throughout South Australia, and it will do so into the future.