Thanks for the two minutes, Tim

"G'day mate, Tim Fischer.
What's the annual rainfall in Tennant Creek?"
That was the first encounter with the tall man in the hat
for at least one startled local.

The Acting Prime Minister of Australia leapt from the gleaming Rugerwagon, strode across the council carpark, bypassed the local dignitaries lined up like skittles and tested the first 'ordinary bloke in the street' he came to on his meteorological knowledge.
Then of course he had to plant a tree and shake a hand or two before being whisked into the council chambers for one of those ubiquitous 'powerpoint' presentations. Those darkened room events where the presenter's voice is duplicated by the words on the screen. That's if you're lucky. Quite often the spoken words say one thing and the screen says something else and what the poor audience ends up remembering is anyone's guess.
Give him the spiel in a neat folder with a nice cover to read on the long 'plane flight would have been my suggestion and let the poor man have a cuppa with the locals or just wander about and have a look at the place - he only had two hours on the ground.
Anyway, when the show was over, Tim was driven from the library car park out onto Peko Road and into the Civic Hall carpark after waving off Judy Fischer who, realising the scale of the manœuevre pronounced cheerily, "It's OK darling, I'll walk".
Now call me picky if you will, but I think there's an oversight in the plan which has the Acting Chief Executive of the nation having to enter the Civic Hall via the toilets. There we were, all waiting in that little corridor to the west of the stage and the smell of Harpic was quite noticeable.
Tim Fischer was too polite of course to mention it and after another round of stop, shake and chat he was introduced to the assembled town gentry by Ali Khan.
What follows is Tim's off-the-cuff but thoughtful speech.

Mayor Paul and Councillors of the Tennant Creek Council present here today, Dr Ali Khan who is Manager, any members of the community of Tennant Creek and of Central Australia, friends and one other: We have amongst us, Dennis, who has come all the way from Brussels to be with us today. I think we should give our international visitor a special welcome.
Now all strength to the right arm and left arm of Dennis, because he has given a blood oath that he is going to return to Brussels, Belgium, the Headquarters of the European Union and he's going to spend the next ten years of his life working to bring about the destruction and abolition of the common agricultural policy of Europe. Good luck.
My wife Judy and I are just delighted and thank you for touching base, and we'll delay our departure a bit so we can mix 'round, listen and talk, having just had an excellent briefing from the council. Thank you.
I gather what's happened is the kids have found the Tennant Creek Library, so we may not be departing here tonight at all, we might be locked in the library.
The first thing I want to say is that it's always been my approach to try and get to communities small and large, and especially communities having a go. You've got some pretty exciting things with the tourism front, the caravan park with a 110% occupancy and the sort of renewal that's coming from a surge in tourism up and down the track, and the turnoff to Mt Isa.
It's a good thing, it's more than a good thing; it is a way to really boost outback Australia with the new wave of tourism that awaits with the Olympics; but beyond the Olympics, way beyond the Olympics as it puts Australia on the map. Not just Sydney, NSW of Australia, but all that the Northern Territory has to offer. From Darwin to Alice Springs, from Rabbit Flat Roadhouse out in the Tanami, with Bruce and Jackie Perron, through to the Emily country near Alkuda and the Katherine Gorge and everything else, including this key hub here at Tennant Creek.
I want to say to you, we draw about four million tourists to Australia from overseas. We can and will double that.
But the best news is that we are about to reform with our taxation changes which are now dare I say, el ay doubleyou, actual law, so there's no turning back. When they come in on 1 July there's a real bonus in the small print and that is all the motor coaches come down from about 40 cents to 20 cents, diesel fuel excise, road transport and the like, but in respect of rail, it comes from 36 cents to 18 cents to zero.
From 1 July next year, diesel fuel excise tax will no longer apply to rail freight operations and rail passenger operations anywhere in Australia and that is a bonus I think, to underpin the development which must happen.
The Alice Springs/Darwin railway line which I renew the commitment of John Howard and the Federal Government of one hundred million dollars grant money for that particular purpose and the numbers are being crunched, the preferred syndicates selected and the like, and I have more talks on that when I get to Darwin.
This country will live to regret the amount of rail track it has ripped up in the 20th century. Let's start the 21st century by putting down some new rail track that counts. The major infrastructure approach, and the obvious one awaiting in that regard is Alice Springs to Darwin, with exciting possibilities of the Mt Isa, Toowoomba, Narrandera, Melbourne project.
I'll just make the point, both would be standard gauge, both would use a common user corridor from Tennant Creek for the 1000km to Darwin and that would be a way which would bring synchronised energy.
Some people would say rail does not have a future into the 21st century, they are absolutely wrong. Other parts of the world are swinging back to rail with a vengeance. Europe of course; Brussels-London now 2 hours, Brussels-Paris 2 hours, TGV that's just usual. Freight is developing more in Europe and the US, and here in Australia there are exciting things happening.
For example, on Friday nights the Aust Post heavy freight comes out of Brisbane by Linfox Trucks to Parkes in Central NSW, loaded into double stacked containers onto Super Rail Freighter at Parkes, and goes Parkes express to Perth cutting a day off the whole movement from Brisbane to Perth, a combined road/rail operation.
That's something you've had a bit of here in the Northern Territory, down to Alice Springs onto the train further south, more to be done in that regard. But I just want to affirm that we stand behind, the Federal Government stands behind the project to build the Alice Springs Darwin railway line and I look forward to being the first passenger on what must be called The Golden Ghan.
The Ghan is the one that stops at Alice Springs, well, the one that comes through to Tennant Creek to Darwin, we'll have to call that The Golden Ghan at some future date, the sooner the better.
I'll just say two other things. You have a project here sometimes called Thirsty Thursday.
I got to go and spend some time in some of the small Aboriginal communities of Docker River and Warburton last January where I saw some magnificent artwork being put into glass. The images being put into glass, into moulds and then into glass and glass baked out there and then being sold to the world through the Internet. Warburton is going places.
Those of you who read last Saturday's Weekend Australian, who went past the magnificent photo of Khancoban on the front page, who went right over to the back page almost, you'd see a nice article on some of the Aboriginal communities which are having a go, which are turning themselves around.
Now I come in part to salute Tennant Creek with its lateral thinking policy to ease the burden associated with alcohol and alcoholism and the way you have gone about this is outstanding, when you see the statistical circumstance and the benefit it has conferred.
I must say that some of the politically correct agenda setters regarded it as being totally paternal that you have hit upon a situation where you deny the sale of bulk alcohol on each Thursday and to be adjusted as maybe required as part of a deliberate policy.
I say to those politically correct people, they are wrong. You are right, you are proving it and congratulations to Tennant Creek for taking these steps that make a difference, make it a more attractive tourist venture, make it a better quality of life for all who live in Tennant Creek in the circumstances of this thoughtful administration. So I commend you on that and wish you well.
I finally bring regards from my friend, Senator Grant Tambling and Minister John Herron. They like to get through here as often as they can, along with other Federal Members and Senators. My status is about to change as you probably heard last week. I have decided to step back for a range of reasons and you can't go on forever. As Deputy Prime Minister, as Minister for Trade, as Federal Leader of the National Party; it's been a great pleasure to serve in those roles and to take this opportunity to come to a place like Tennant Creek.
And I say thankyou for the tremendous effort which you have put in to making a difference in your local government body; through the community organisations such as the tourism organisation, through your improvement and thinking ahead to adjust to the situation of the closure of the Goldmines. Good luck to Tennant Creek.
As I adopt the mantle of modest middle bencher in Parliament from the August session onwards, I will nevertheless be doing all I can as a modest middle bencher to see that we further help put Outback Australia on the map in a very positive way.
And why wouldn't you live here? Here's the front page of today's Daily Telegraph; Train Bomb Blast, it's not dare I say in Pakistan Dr Ali Khan, it's not in India, it's not in London, it's in fact Sydney Commuters in the busy railway station at Merrylands. I guarantee that when the Tennant Creek Railway Station starts operating there'll be no bomb blasts at the Tennant Creek Station.
Keep up the good work, be proud of your community, it is a terrific community, right here on the track in the very central part of Australia. It is going places bit by bit. You have a huge adjustment with the closing of the mine and there's a couple of proposals in presentation, one aspect of which we'll be further examining a little down the track on your development zone, and I was attracted to that presentation this afternoon.
Thankyou for the honour you've done to Judy and I. But let me say thankyou very much for your help and support, and the contribution you're making to this great country, Australia.
Good luck! I come to salute Tennant Creek with its lateral thinking policy to ease the burden associated with alcohol and the way you have gone about this is outstanding.

This country will live to regret the amount of rail track it has ripped up in the
20th century.