A proposal to build a national museum of agriculture in Yass, in NSW’s Southern Highlands, is creating a stir in the local community. But what about the rest of the country?
There’s dozens of places that can claim the be best location boasting deep heritage in the birth of agriculture, home to key pioneering figures, or a current powerhouse of production.
Nationals candidate for the federal electorate of Eden Monaro Sophie Wade has the backing or her party leader Michael McCormack to push the case for her hometown.
“Yass is a fabulous location. It’s so close to the national Capital, right on the Hume Highway between Melbourne and Sydney,” said Ms Wade, a small business owner and mother of three.
“We see busloads of kids coming past us going to visit Parliament House, they should also come and learn about the history of agriculture.
“There is a missing piece in Australia’s story and Yass is in a perfect position to fill it, in terms of location, available land and its rich agricultural history. The community has gone ballistic talking about it.”
Yass was home to the famous Merryville Stud, and Sir Water Merriman, the preeminent sheep breeder in Australia’s fine wool industry.
Merryville led the way in fine wool for Eastern Australia with its larger bodied sheep, which was about double the size of traditional breeds.
Hamilton Hume, for whom the highway is names, settled in Yass for the remainder of his life after leading the 1824 expedition from the edge of settled districts in NSW to Western Port in Victoria and became the first European to cross the Murray River.
Nationals Leader Michael McCormack supports the idea.
“We’ve got a National Maritime Museum – why wouldn’t we have a National Agricultural Museum, something to showcase all that we do in agriculture, all that we do in rural and regional Australia?,” Mr McCormack said.
“And why not have it at Yass? The nation used to ride on the sheep’s back.”
