Ms RATTRAY (McIntyre) – Mr Deputy President, I doubt there would be a member of this House who would not appreciate the value of agriculture to the north-east and the former Apsley electorate.
Today I would like to speak about the Ringarooma dairy farming community, which has recently been named Tasmania’s Legendairy Capital. This prestigious Dairy Tasmania award has certainly put the community on the map in the dairy industry.
The Ringarooma community will join seven other ‘legendairy’ capitals across Australia and will vie for the ultimate title of Australia’s Legendairy Capital, which will be announced in September.
The successful application was initiated, compiled and submitted by Marcus and Simone Hayward, who are sharefarmers in the district. The application showcased the community, with a spotlight on the Ringarooma Show committee which provides fantastic support to the Ringarooma School. This support has been ongoing for decades with the main fundraising event being the highly successful Ringarooma Show day, which I have had the pleasure of officially opening in the past.
Many will recall in the last government’s time, the then minister for education Nick McKim putting out a hit list of schools to be closed. The enormous pushback from this community rejecting the proposed closure was outstanding and put the minister and his government into retreat mode. The Ringarooma community then got back on with the job of supporting the school to deliver the best education opportunities for its students.
Interestingly at the time, there were approximately 70 students enrolled at Ringarooma Primary School. I am pleased to report that today the number of students is 89. It just goes to show we do not always know what the future will look like. Well done to the Ringarooma community for proving the minister initially got it wrong in 2011.
Part of the next stage of the national title recently included a film shoot at the school in the last week of July. What a great community turnout. Marcus and his team put a huge amount of effort into organising the day. People in attendance included the school students and Daisy the hay bale cow, who is becoming quite a celebrity around the place. The food to feed the hungry mob was appreciated by all.
This prestigious national award has significant dollars attached to winning, which would go towards a community initiative. Regardless of the outcome, the Tasmanian title is a great honour for Tasmania, the north-east dairy farmers and the industry in general.
Congratulations to all involved. I offer my best wishes to this wonderful Legendairy community, and on behalf of all Tasmanians, I wish them every success in September.