Federal Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, was champing at the bit after news a special two-day charity rodeo event will take off in Tamworth next year.
Mr Joyce was on hand to help launch The Great Australian Round Up in Tamworth on Friday, which will coincide with the Tamworth Country Music Festival from January 19 and 20 at the Australian Equine Livestock and events centre (AELEC).
The event, raising money for Burrumbuttock Hay Runners, will include a stockman’s challenge, working dog trials, sheep shearing and a ute, truck and antique machinery show.
A Saturday headline performance from internationally renowned horseman Guy Mclean will be followed by a rodeo showcase.
But, perhaps Mr Joyce should have been included in the program, comfortably boarding a Palamino horse for attendees of the event launch.
The Australian Bushmen’s Campdraft and Rodeo Association (ABCRA) Executive Officer Craig Young said current drought conditions were affecting a lot of their members and they wanted to do their part to help.
“The ABCRA was born on the rural community, it’s been in sport for over 100 years and the drought conditions at the moment are affecting a lot of our members,” he said.
“Our members have been affected by drought over those 100 years or more, they’ll be affected by these droughts going forward and we want to have an annual fundraiser that will support those who support us.”
The Tamworth Country Music Festival attracts more than 300,000 visitors across the 10 days of entertainment.
Mr Joyce said while the recent announcement of a flight training school in Tamworth was a major boost for the economy, rural industries were the core of the town.
“If we don’t celebrate our culture then who is,” he said.
“One of the paths that go to the core of who we are is our culture of people working on the land and some of the skill sets that they need to survive and they do it well, to thrive.”
The day time events are free to the public, with tickets to the headline rodeo event available at thegreataustralianroundup.com.au/
Lucy Kinbacher
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
Raised on a cattle property at Biggenden, Lucy Kinbacher has spent 10 years working across metropolitan, regional and rural publications in both Queensland and NSW. Lucy has been the editor of the Queensland Country Life and North Queensland Register since 2021.
