Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive Official Opening

Winton Shire Council Mayor, Councillor Cathy White; Chairman of The Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive, Mr Anthony (Bim) Struss; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

I begin by acknowledging the Original Custodians of the lands around Longreach, Iningai people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to any First Nations people here this morning.

Graeme and I are thrilled to be with you today to see the first cattle leave the yards for the Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive.

Before the advent of railways and motor transport, droving was a fundamental part of life and the economy in rural Australia, and many drives have earned an honoured place in our nation’s history.

One such drive was in 1942 during World War II when northern Australia was under threat of Japanese invasion. The meatworks in the Kimberley could not be used because they were in a declared War Zone, so a herd of 32 thousand head was driven south to Perth and east to Queensland to meet the demand for beef in Australia’s southern cities.

But one of the greatest drives ever was just over 70 years ago, in 1953, when a hundred thousand head of cattle were moved east from the Kimberleys to be fattened in Queensland and New South Wales en route to southern markets. At the end of the drive, after almost five months in the saddle, the drovers were paid about a thousand pounds. A boss drover could earn twice that amount and while two thousand pounds may not sound like much, it was more than enough to allow them to retire until the next dry season because that was the equivalent of almost 87 thousand dollars today!

The drive leaving Longreach today aims to raise at least a million dollars for BeefBank, the amazing Queensland charity based on the simple principle that everyone deserves a warm meal.

In the two decades since it was established by the Rotary Club of Brisbane Centenary, BeefBank has provided packages through FairShare and Foodbank for distribution to the countless community and welfare organisations that support the homeless, disadvantaged and marginalized in our communities, including the aged, single parents, the working poor, and the children who depend on breakfast programs at school.

The Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive is a big, bold, and (some would say) slightly crazy project to address this persistent problem, but difficult problems often require creative, audacious solutions, and this Drive is just that – it is truly visionary.

I commend everyone concerned on their commitment to planning it over the past two years and congratulate them on bringing it to fruition. I also thank the many generous sponsors, donors and volunteers, and communities along the route who have embraced this clever but immensely practical way of helping their fellow Queenslanders.

Drovers are the stuff of legend for Australians. As children we sang folksongs about the droving life, we recited Banjo Patterson’s exciting poems about The Man from Snowy River and Clancy of the Overflow, and we read Henry Lawson’s story of The Drover’s Wife.

The riders setting out today are living those legends. They’ll feast under the stars at the Bulldust and Sequins Dinner, they’ll soak away the pain of a day in the saddle in hot artesian baths, they’ll watch Game One of the State of Origin projected on the side of a woolshed, but in the process, they’ll serve as an 89-day, 775-kilometre-long, walking billboard for BeefBank and its sponsors.

It is now my great pleasure and honour to swing the gate to officially begin the inaugural Great Australian Charity Cattle Drive.

Travel well, stay away from cattle duffers, and, above all, enjoy the ride of your life.