Riverland West Citrus Fest

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:31): I rise today to acknowledge one of the great festivals in the Riverland I recently attended, the Waikerie citrus fest, the inaugural Waikerie citrus festival and a celebration of what the Riverland is so synonymous with—that is, some of the world's best citrus. It was really a themed festival and brought people from far and wide to show their culinary skills, their growing skills and some of the artistic skills that the festival draws to Waikerie.

Waikerie is renowned for their signature rubbish bins, large fibreglass orange replicas. The council do not like them, but they understand that they are a symbol of Waikerie and that they really do put a signature on the town. Anyone who comes into town notices these bright oranges that have a rubbish bin lid. It was great that I was asked to go along to the festival. I did pose a little bit of competition to the jam and cake makers because I was asked to go along and be the judge. Hence, I was not able to put my jam in the competition or put my cake in the competition. Sonia Fowler—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: They were scared. Sonia Fowler, the chair, asked me to come along. It was an absolute honour to look at some the great artwork and displays that were set up there. I know that Carol Walker did the main stage display, which had hundreds and hundreds of oranges on it. The artwork and the way it was put together was just outstanding, and it was just one of many. It gave me the opportunity to judge the cakes, and in the end there was a citrus cake I judged. It was a tough job because there were many cakes.

Teish Lochert, who is a relative of Lochert's, the famous name of Crusta orange juice, has kept in the family the award-winning citrus cake. It was just a delight to judge. Once I cut it open, not only were there vibrant citrus colours but there was also the taste, and that is what is really important about cooking, of course—don't we know that. Teish Lochert won the award for Australia's best rainbow citrus cake, so congratulations to Teish.

Some of the other awards included for the best citrus marmalade, which went to Grace Kalisch, and the best citrus-themed photography, which went to Pat Leske. Waikerie's best citrus-themed shopfront went to Waikerie Intercare. It brought the community out and it brought the community together to celebrate what the Riverland is so famous for, and that is having a bit of fun and celebrating a festival, particularly around citrus.

I would like to commend the organisers of the committee who run a really good show. They brought people from far and wide: from Victoria, Adelaide and right around the Riverland. It filled up the main street and really gave Waikerie's economy a shot in the arm. It gave everyone an opportunity to taste some of the beautiful new-season citrus that was before us.

Sonia Fowler is the chair of the Riverland West Chamber of Commerce and headed the committee. Kevin Myers is vice chair, Jill Kerr is treasurer and Sandra Schober is secretary. Other committee members include Kym Webber (a great stalwart of the Waikerie community), Di Hausler, Paul McCormick, Linda McKay, Jenni Searle, Stephen Kleemann and Angela Lukacs.

What I witnessed there was great community collaboration. It themed the town for the day, and people are now working towards next year's event. I have put out the challenge to all those jam and cake makers: there is going to be pressure on them next year because I am not judging. I am going to take my jams and cakes along to the Waikerie citrus fest, just as I am going to take my cake along to the Coonalpyn Show, because we know that for all MPs the challenge is there: if you are going to make a cake, you take it to Coonalpyn to be judged and to see who is best. We know what happened last year, ladies and gentlemen!

Congratulations to Waikerie. The citrus fest was a great community event, and it is an event that I am sure everyone should consider visiting next year.