It was a great pleasure when as a local member I attended the Bellarine Agricultural Show held on Labour Day weekend at the Portarlington Recreation Reserve.

With my own background in farming I have always enjoyed the local agricultural shows, and it was great to see the Bellarine event so well supported, not only by the agricultural industry but also the local community.

It was a great day full of wonderful exhibits ranging from the much-loved livestock to an extensive range of local-made produce and handcrafts. There was also a lot of interest in the working sheepdogs, the horse wagon rides, the vintage Kelly steam engine owned by Bob De Vries and a gumboot toss that was hotly contested.

Importantly, events like these show how vital our farming industry is on the Bellarine, and it continues to diversify and grow in a good indication of its sustainability and prosperous future.

A month or so ago I did have a tour of some Bellarine farms with the local farmers federation reps and members discussing their issues and their views for the future, and seeing those working farms was a great opportunity.

I know that organisations and events like the Bellarine Agricultural Show, though, take a lot of hard work from volunteers over many months by a lot of people, so I would like to take the opportunity to really congratulate the committee led by president Janet McDonald, Graeme Brown and Kerry and Rick Peacock, and of course I commend all the volunteers for their hard work and success for a great show.