Two national events that had been planned late July/early August have been postponed following the re-emergence of state-based movement restrictions in response to COVID outbreaks.
Postponement of the 50th Anniversary ICPA (Aust) Conference
The Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association of Australia (ICPA Aust) federal council and conference convenors have made the difficult decision to postpone the 50th Anniversary Conference and AGM which was to be held in Longreach, Qld, on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 July 2021.
A large portion of the ICPA’s member base, branches and guests are unable to travel or attend in person due to current restrictions or are reticent to attend due to the possibility of future restrictions or border closures.
In the statement the ICPA council said the possibility of proceeding with the event at this time is untenable given the ongoing and new lockdowns, restrictions and developing situations associated with the pandemic.
“In the interest of our members, stakeholders and the regional, rural and remote communities we represent, the Federal Conference will go ahead at a later date. We are looking forward to celebrating the 50th Anniversary Federal Conference as soon as possible.”
As they come to hand, Conference updates will continue to be published on the ICPA (Aust) Conference Website.
National young judges, paraders and rural ambassadors finals postponed
Agricultural Shows of Australia says it regrets to inform participants and supporters that the national finals for young judges, young paraders and rural ambassadors will be postponed, and will not be held at the upcoming Royal Queensland Show in August as planned.
Following a meeting of the working groups and organising committees of Agricultural Shows of Australia and the host body Queensland Ag Shows this week, the unanimous decision was made that the national finals for 2021 would not be conducted in conjunction with the 2021 Royal Queensland Show (Ekka).
“The increasing uncertainty around the ability of interstate competitors and officials was the major consideration. With that in mind, the joint committee decided that it was not possible to proceed with the 2021 campaign in the current location,” Chairman of Agricultural Shows of Australia, Rob Wilson said.
“Given our duty of care when conducting these competitions, the uncertainty around border restrictions and quarantine requirements, and the possible adverse impacts to finances and the wellbeing of competitors, supporters and organising committees were catalysts for this decision.”
Queensland Ag Shows confirmed that the Queensland State Young Judges and Paraders, Rural Ambassador and Showgirl competitions will continue as normal at the Ekka this year.
“The enormous amount of preparation has gone into these national finals – and the achievements of those 63 eligible national competitors across the nine competitions will not go to waste. We have every intention of staging these important competitions in the future.”
This announcement affects the state winners who were eligible as national competitors in the young judges competitions for poultry, alpacas, Merino sheep, Merino fleece, meat sheep breeds, dairy and beef cattle, paraders in dairy and beef cattle competitions and rural ambassadors.
The joint committees will reconvene on 6 August to consider the options and communicate to finalists and officials thereafter.
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