Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I rise to take this time in the House to reflect on the death of my friend and Central Queensland cattle king Graeme Acton. Mr Acton died on Friday night, a week after a campdrafting accident at Clarke Creek, north-west of Rockhampton. With his passing Australia has lost one of its greatest rural men and Australia's beef capital, Rockhampton, has lost one of its most active, generous and loyal benefactors. Graeme Acton deserves to be honoured up there with Sir Sidney Kidman and the Durack family—Australian cattle pioneers from past centuries. I cannot begin to tell you what a huge loss Graeme's passing is to the nation. He made an extraordinary contribution to the beef industry on a national and international scale. I had so much respect for him. I always valued Graeme and his wise counsel. He called a spade a spade and always had something sensible and valuable to contribute.

The Prime Minister on the weekend paid tribute to Mr Acton, describing him as a proud Queenslander and a great Australian, while our agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce labelled him as a great captain of agricultural industry. Graeme was the founder of the Acton Land and Cattle Company and Acton Super Beef along with his brother Evan. Under Graeme's management, Acton Land and Cattle is now one of Australia's largest, vertically integrated cattle holdings. It has landholdings of over 3.87 million acres, stretching from Rockhampton and Marlborough to the Queensland gulf country and Mount Isa. The Acton herd is made up of about 180,000 cattle. Up to 30,000 head are exported annually to Japan, South Korea, the Middle East and South-East Asia.

I fondly recall one occasion where Graeme and I were exchanging ideas on the future of Australia's beef sector and he sent me out to the middle of a herd of 200 restless bullocks for a photo opportunity. I insisted he come along with me. His skill and knowledge of cattle was incredible to watch. Graeme was a driving force behind Beef Australia—the nation's largest cattle event, which showcases our beef industry to the world.

Our thoughts are with Graeme's family, including his wife, Jennie, and his children, Tom, Hayley, Victoria and Laura. To Jennie and Graeme's extended family, you have lost a wonderful husband, father and brother. Central Queensland has lost an incredible man who was very generous to the whole community. His passion and energy were tireless. On a local scale, Graeme Acton's contribution to Rockhampton, Australia's beef capital, can never be matched. One of the Actons' properties, Paradise Lagoons, outside Rockhampton, is nationally known for its community campdraft facilities. The Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, was among those who really enjoyed his time riding with Graeme Acton at Paradise Lagoons.

There will never be another Graeme Acton. Rockhampton and the Central Queensland communities that he so generously supported will never be the same without him. We all owe Graeme and his family a lot for giving so much time and resources to our community. Thank you, Graeme, and thank you to the Acton family. As a nation, we have been privileged to have Graeme Acton contribute to national affairs—more recently, offering important economic advice about Australia's rural industries.

Only recently, Graeme was on the advisory panel in Rockhampton that provided input into the Australian government's white paper task force on the future competitiveness of Australian agriculture. Only last month, he was among those to put questions about the cattle sector to the Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, when the minister came to Rockhampton. Also, he recently addressed a national global food forum with leading business and political leaders in Sydney on the future outlook of Australian food production. Vale Graeme Acton. May peace be with you.