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National Farmer Rally in Canberra
More than 2000 farmers and supporters travelled from across the country for the National Farmer Rally in Canberra on Tuesday 10 September 2024.
NSW Farmers members, who demanded a fair go for farmers, were joined by people from all states and territories, including the National Farmers’ Federation, and truckies and farmers from Western Australia who would be drastically impacted by the Australian Government’s ban on the live export of sheep by sea.
The rally in Federation Mall – on the doorstep of Australian Parliament House – was a landmark moment in the fight to protect food and fibre production from anti-farming decisions set to cost the nation billions.
“Farmers have always put food on the table for Australians and clothes on our backs, but decisions are being made in Canberra that are making it more and more impossible to do this,” NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said.
“We need good decisions out of Canberra that support the farmers who quite literally feed and clothe our nation, and this rally is our chance to show politicians and policymakers that farmers will not stand by while they ignore facts and science to comply with the theories of anti-farming activists.
“The water, land and workers needed to grow our food is being taken away by bad decisions, and we need to act now to keep our farmers farming before our food security is thrown into real jeopardy.”
The national rally focused on key issues such as the ban on live sheep exports by sea, the proposed double tax on farmers for biosecurity, the impacts of the renewable energy transition on rural communities, and the the draining of fresh water out of Murray-Darling Basin communities into the ocean.
Mr Martin thanked attendees for their support for the agricultural industry and called on federal parliamentarians to reverse anti-farming policies.
“Farmers around the world are increasingly having to stand up for agriculture, as politicians put policies into place that threaten our food security and force farmers out of business,” Mr Martin said.
“Australia is no exception, and we hope to see farmers turn out in their thousands this September 10 so we can ensure every Aussie family has food on their table, and clothes on their backs.”
Activists on agenda at National Farmer Rally
Exposing false claims about farmers was one of the key goals of the National Farmer Rally in Canberra, with consumers urged to stay alert to fake news from activist agendas.
NSW Farmers Conservation and Resource Management Committee Chair Bronwyn Petrie said the environmental credentials of the agricultural sector were not being accurately portrayed by special interest groups and activist agendas, who continued to peddle fake news to influence politicians.
“Claims that land clearing is out of control in agriculture are simply wrong and counterproductive to what should be a unified effort to care for our environment,” Mrs Petrie said.
“There is clear evidence that partnering with farmers improves conservation outcomes – such as the fact that forest cover in NSW has increased every year since 2007 – but this being is ignored by those who simply want to sell a message.
“We continue to see unfounded reports that farmers are recklessly clearing land by including vegetation management approvals, regrowth control, responsible removal of invasive species, land covered by non-woody vegetation, land affected by drought and disasters, and even land used for roads in figures on ‘land cleared for agriculture’, which is simply inaccurate and untrue.”
Mrs Petrie said it was critical the right information was used to make the right decisions for the environment.
“Ill-informed activist agendas have gone too far and threaten to prevent farmers from protecting the environment as they produce the food and fibre that feeds the nation, as well as our export markets,” Mrs Petrie said.
“We know exactly how important the environment is, but building biodiversity and protecting our landscape needs to be done in partnership with farmers, or else practical solutions simply won’t be achieved.”
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