Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member again interrupts with talk of the Chiko Roll. Let's just put it on the record again. If we are serious about truth in labelling and making sure that we have country-of-origin labelling, I suggest the minister and his colleagues read the back of the label of the Chiko Roll. Perhaps we can say that they helped set the benchmark for country-of-origin labelling, in that they printed on the back, 'Born in Bendigo'. Let's just relive a bit of the history of the Chiko Roll, why it was born in Bendigo and why we claim to be the home of the Chiko Roll.

Three brothers, Frank, Leo and Gerard McEncroe, who were dairy farmers, decided that they wanted to go into the catering business. Frank was the entrepreneur. He was a boilermaker who invented the equipment for, and who first designed, the Chiko Roll. Anybody who knows how to cook a Chiko Roll knows it could fall apart quite quickly in hot oil if it is not made effectively. What these brothers did—and I am putting this in the Hansard so that our friend, Mr McCormack, can respond if he wishes to—was that Frank, the boilermaker, invented a machine that basically created the Chiko Roll, they froze the Chiko Roll and then it was fried so that it would not fall apart. So it was invented in Bendigo by the McEncroe brothers. The McEncroe brothers first called the Chiko Roll the 'snack roll'. The 'snack roll' was sold at local sporting clubs, at the QEO and at agricultural shows. They travelled with the Chiko Roll. Through their catering business, the McEncroe brothers did take the Chiko Roll to the Wagga Wagga show. The ingredients were slightly different, because it depended upon what they had growing in their vegie patch at the time. They had run out of cabbage, so they replaced the cabbage with lucerne. Those were the Chiko Rolls that were at the Wagga Wagga show.

The origin of the Chiko Roll is clearly based in Bendigo with the three McEncroe brothers who had the catering business. Perhaps this is too much detail for food labelling—perhaps people do not need to know the full history of the Chiko Roll—but I will state very clearly and loudly again for the benefit of members and the minister that labelling is important. Even if it is just to dispel myths about the home of the Chiko Roll, food labelling is important. While we may make humour about the Chiko Roll, and I claim that the back of the Chiko Roll helps dispel the terrible myths being put forward by some of those opposite about the Chiko Roll, it does go to an underlying issue, which is that people do read the label. They do care about what is on the label. Knowing what percentage of the produce you are eating is locally made and produced is important to Australians. I encourage the government to ensure that there is investment in making sure that people live up to what the label says.

See this speech in context