Saturday, 12 April 2025
Main Arena, Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC

Thank you, John. I also add my thanks to Walangari Karntawarra and the Diramu Aboriginal Dancers, for your Welcome to and Acknowledgement of Country and pay my respects to the Traditional Owners of this land, the Burramattagal and Wangal of the Eora Nation – and to Elders, past, present and emerging of the many lands across our State.

• Minister[1]
• Commander Forces Command[2]
• Deputy Commissioner[3]
• President of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW[4]
• Special Guests, all

As Patron of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, it is my honour to welcome everyone to this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show Opening Ceremony, blessed as we are today with blue skies, a gentle autumn breeze, the Pink New Moon having just risen at 5:05pm, completing its full arc tomorrow at 5:29 pm. The season is changing, and Easter is upon us.

Indeed, understanding the seasons is an everyday aspect of Australian agriculture as our farmers and graziers respond to the demands of the land with hard work, commitment and, increasingly, with innovation.  Long gone are the days when the land was ploughed and everyone hoped for the best. 

Farming today is a high-tech business, underpinned by science and business acumen.  In addition to the traditional challenges of the land, it is vulnerable to international circumstances more than any other sector in the Australian economy – whether in the nature of biosecurity risks, geopolitical tensions or uncertainty around trade agreements.

So, when we sing in our national anthem: “we’ve golden soil and wealth for toil”, it acts as a reminder that our agricultural sector – the land, the produce and the people – is a precious resource.

But let me take you back to beginning.  In New South Wales in the early 1820s, with a growing population and an increase in convict transportation due to unemployment in England and a consequent increase in crime following the demobilisation of troops after the end of the Napoleonic War, food security became a significant concern.

An agricultural society was thus formed to promote a culture of experimentation and competition which would improve both the quality and quantity of crops and stock in the Colony. Governor Brisbane, the 6^th Governor of NSW, became its first Patron and every Governor since has continued as Patron.

The very first Agricultural Show, held at Parramatta in October 1823, was very different from the wonderfully vibrant, noisy affair we have today.  The sheer scale we now have would have been simply incomprehensible in 1823. The number of people in the arena as I speak would be more than double the population of Sydney at that time, which was estimated to be just over 12,000 people, and, as I have said, growing rapidly.[5]

At that first Show, a total of 14 prizes were awarded for livestock: 10 for Merino sheep, 3 for cattle and one for the best colonial-bred stallion. Servants could enter and be judged according to their animal husbandry skills – as well as for their good conduct and faithful service.^[6] Prizes were awarded for reducing the dingo population.[7]

With but a handful of livestock on show I wonder how the participants in the very first Show would react if they could experience the Grand Parade which every year since 1907 has preceded the formal opening.

Much more has changed.  The Show as we know it today is a culmination of the more than 550 regional shows around Australia. This year there will be over 15,000 awards, ribbons, rosettes and sashes presented by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW. There is the eponymous District Display, this year celebrating its 125^th Anniversary, each individual display created over many months by volunteers from their respective regions.

What has remained constant, however, since its modest beginnings 202 years ago is the Show’s commitment to agricultural excellence, reflected in today’s language as a commitment to food excellence, security and sustainability.  The Show is that special time of year where the Country comes to the city, when producer meets consumer and the older ‘hands’ shake hands with the next generation of leaders: the Rural Achievers, Sydney Royal Young Women finalists, Young Judges, and student exhibitors.

The Show is the place where the 2000-strong community - Volunteers, Judges, Stewards and Officials springs up every year, many working year-round to bring the Show to fruition, supporting the 6500 exhibitors.

It’s the place where city kids can interact with farm animals in the animal nursery and gain an insight into real farm life with this year’s new feature ‘Jamison Station’.

Central to everything that goes on in and around the Show, is the Royal Agricultural Society, which over the past 10 years has invested between 10%-15% of total revenue in regional agriculture.[8] The RAS Foundation, of which my husband Dennis Wilson is Patron, has given back to communities by contributing approximately $10 million in grants and scholarships to rural and regional areas since its inception in 2007.

To the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, to Show exhibitors and volunteers and to each person here, thank you. Your support of the Show ensures the future of our producers, the livelihoods of our rural communities, and the prosperity of our food and agricultural industries.

In the spirit of celebration and with great pride in what this Show represents for New South Wales, I now have the privilege to formally announce those much-awaited words:

Let the 2025 Sydney Royal Easter Show begin!

[1] The Honourable Tara Moriarty, Minister for Agriculture and Western & Regional NSW

[2] Major General Ana Duncan, also Host Officer

[3] Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos APM, NSW Police

[4] Mr John Bennett, RAS President

[5] The first population counts of Australia were known as musters and were made as early as 1788. Musters involved all members of the community gathering at specified locations to be counted. These were important as a means of matching food and other supplies to the number of people needing them:

https://guides.slv.vic.gov.au/earlycensus/history#

Marion Phillips, Colonial Autocracy, p. 149, gives Sydney's 1820 population as 12,079, which was the total for the whole muster district:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-7939.1953.tb01849.x#

[6] Gavin Fry, Sydney Royal: Celebrating 200 Years of the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales, p. 278. “Fourteen prizes were to be given for stock: 10 for Merino sheep, three for cattle and one for the best colonial-bred stallion; four prizes were allocated to servants for animal husbandry skills and for good conduct and long service”

[7] https://www.rasnsw.com.au/archives/ras-times/the-first-show/

[8] https://www.eastershow.com.au/about-us/about-ras-nsw/