Mates of the Stock Routes
On Wednesday 27 August about 90 local graziers and drovers met at the Dubbo saleyards to launch "Mates of the Travelling Stock Route", adding their voice to calls for the vast network to be maintained.
Chairman of the Mates, drover Robert Groth, told the Herald the group wanted the Government to suspend a decision on the future of the stock route until there is a public debate on its value.
"You are dealing with something that belongs to the Australian public," said Mr Groth. "We want something that says it is going to be there in 200 years' time for our great, great grandkids."
Robert Groth is from a long line of drovers. He can trace back about 156 years of his family's droving.
He spoke to Edmond Roy on the ABC PM program:
"It's not only traditional way of life; it is a very, very, very important part, not only to the rural industry, but to people out of town. Like mum, dad, and the kids who want to go for a picnic, they go down the river, fly a kite, run 'round. Let the kids have good run.
You've got your fisherman that goes for a weekend's fishing. They generally go onto a TSR somewhere to go fishing to gain access to a river. You've got your Apiarists your beekeepers, etc.
And all that has a big impact on your towns itself. Like drovers don't get the time to run off to a big shopping centre to do their shopping; such as their dog food, or their horse feed, of their grocery shopping; their clothes etc.
Whatever town you are closest to, that's who you deal with. And that in turn keeps a lot of smaller towns, it's puts a lot of money into smaller towns.