STATEMENTS BY SENATORS
Senator CADELL (New South Wales) (13:56): In the last month or so, I had the opportunity to get down to the wonderful town of Griffith twice, not just to look at the magnificent Fairey Firefly that sits in the park with a spinning propeller. I went there for the Murray Darling Association meeting but also the outstanding community leadership by the Griffith Regional Economic Forum that was held in the club there.
It wasn't just a normal talkfest or conference. It was led by Brad Robertson. Brad, on his own initiative, brought farmers, business leaders and council people together.
They were able to have a real, interactive conversation about the area of Griffith and the things that they do. Obviously, it's such an important part of Australia's food bowl, but it's more than that. The community voices all came through.
We had great discussions, sitting at tables with them and being able to talk and interactively ask questions. There was me, as well as Kevin Hogan and Dugald Saunders speaking on trade and agriculture. There was Bridget McKenzie from this chamber speaking on regional development, and lots of other people who came down to look and talk.
It's really refreshing when you get out to the regions. We're not talking about peak bodies; we're talking about people on the ground, doing things, and the way they see things differently. We can have the best ideas in the world in this place and in local government, but it's how it filters down to the ground.
It's about how these people in the Murray irrigation zone, and all the channels around it, get the water, how they facilitate things and how the businesses survive around that. They were raising real questions as we go forward about the viability of agriculture, the pressures of land use, the access to water—these sorts of things and how they go. It was good to see, and one of the speakers of the night—and someone who didn't support the Nationals in the last campaign—was David Farley.
He gave his very different perspective on the agriculture, the way we will do things going forward and what we need to do to deliver more. I'd like to thank Brad. I'd like to thank everyone that came.
I'd like to thank the people of Griffith for having me. It's such a wonderful town and I look forward to being there more. I hope we can work across the aisle with Murray Watt, the minister, and deliver a great water outcome this time around.