Coonalpyn Show

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (16:05): There is nothing quite like a good regional show. They bring communities together and they bring people together. This year, the Coonalpyn Show brought both federal and state, Liberal and Labor politicians together. There are rare times in the corridors of this place when politicians can put politics aside. Last week, I like many South Australian politicians did just that: 13 South Australian politicians put their cooking skills to the test in a bake-off for an afternoon tea at the Coonalpyn pollie bake-off, a record number of entries. It is a shame yours was not there, Mr President. The hot favourite to take out the top prize was last year's winner, the member for Hammond, Adrian Pederick.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: No way.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE: I know, it's outrageous! Perhaps this was the motivator for so many members to get involved this year. Members went to extraordinary efforts, and I encourage members to jump on the Coonalpyn Show Facebook page to view the amazing cakes and skills they perhaps did not know their colleagues had. Members might be inspired to get involved next year.

The standards have been set high. The Hon. Clare Scriven, created a masterpiece based on the Coonalpyn silos; the member for Finniss, David Basham, spent hours moulding a sheep out of marshmallows and rice bubbles; the member for Croydon, Peter Malinauskas and his daughter Sophie, created a delicious apple cake; the member for Hammond, Adrian Pederick, went with the safe option of a butter cake. I, however, did my best to create a family favourite, mum's pavlova.

As much as it pains me to confirm in this chamber today, mum's pavlova did not pull me across the line. I congratulate the 2018 pollie bake-off winner, the member for Chaffey, Tim Whetstone; and the member for Bragg, Vickie Chapman, for taking out second place. Judge, Susan McDonald, and cookery convener, Julianne Wandel, did a fabulous job under pressure. The hype surrounding the winner of the bake-off had poor Julianne running from the judging table straight afterwards to a radio interview and people requesting interviews about the pollie bake-off winner.

While I could talk about the delicious selection of cakes for more than my allocated time, this speech is not about pollies cooking cakes; it is about the real winner, the Coonalpyn community. To have over 13 federal and state politicians promoting and talking about a town with a population of 350 through social media and in the corridors of state and federal parliament is an incredible community achievement and a testament to the organisers, not to mention the 900 people who attended the show, which is roughly two and a half times the population of Coonalpyn.

Countless show goers filled the pavilion to watch the results of the pollie bake-off be announced but the results were not what residents were talking about. They were heartened to see Labor and Liberal MPs working together to support the Coonalpyn community—something I believe communities across Australia are all calling for. People like Francis Andrews, President, Country Shows, Agricultural Societies of South Australia, who shared with me his passion for country shows; as did the previous president of the show society; and people like the children of Coonalpyn who saw Labor and Liberal MPs together in their town. I am sure I met some future leaders while they busily worked on their badges at the Labor art and craft stand.

The Coonalpyn Show left little doubt that Coonalpyn and the surrounding community is a very strong community. Its strength was demonstrated by the community coming together to run an incredibly successful show and by the pride the award winners showed, like Wayne Marks, who proudly displayed his runner-up ribbon for the most outstanding small business.

A trip to Coonalpyn would not be complete without a photo in front of the silos. Anyone who questions the importance of public artwork need only stop at the Coonalpyn silos to reconsider their thoughts. I made sure to grab one with our eight Young Labor volunteers who joined me in Coonalpyn, and I was pleased to see so many other visitors lining the road to do the very same thing.

I would like to thank Coonalpyn for giving me such a warm welcome and the show committee and the judges for a successful show. I hope that the pollie bake-off is much bigger again next year.