Regional roadshow calls on farmers to unite and spread awareness ahead of potential live export phase-out

Politicians are calling on farmers to take on an activist approach to stop the proposed live export phase-out, using a recent regional roadshow to rally primary producers to speak up. The Coalition-fronted regional roadshow ran for three days. Federal and WA politicians came to Katanning, Hyden, Merredin, Perth, York, Brookton and Wagin to seek out stories and opinions from people who will be impacted by the loss of live sheep exports. At the York meeting, member for O’Connor Rick Wilson, among other politicians present at the panel, said the Government’s stance on live export was simply to accumulate votes in urban areas, and not for ethical reasons. “It’s a problem of politics. The Government made a political decision to close this industry down because it might garner them some votes elsewhere, mainly in inner cities, and that’s why we need to fight back.” Once the floor opened up, farmers and community members one by one delivered their opinions. Jake Davies, a 31-year-old farmer from York, expressed a main concern echoed throughout the room about what the live export phase-out would do to farms, but also the wider regional community. “There would be a lot of overseas investment from countries that are more densely populated and who see the importance of food which we Australians take for granted,” he said. “Those corporations are buying up our land, so there’s less and less local farmers in the district, and there’s less and less people coming into farming. I can see all those nearby towns dying off.” Mr Davies said he was saddened by the prospect of the farming community dying out because of the Government’s policy decisions. “I think a lot of people are steering their next generations from coming back to the farms, and I think it’s very sad because there’s a lot of people who have an interest and a drive for it,” he said. “There’s just an overwhelming feeling that there’s no future in it, which is really awful.” When asked what farmers could do to stop the live export phase-out, Mr Davies said it was up to farmers to shift inner-city perception of the industry by talking to mates in the city. “The main driver for this policy is that the Government believes they can win votes because they think that’s what most of the city people want,” he said. “If you can educate the people far removed from this situation, and get them to gain a more balanced understanding, it removes the whole entire motivation for the policy.” Cameron Broun, 27, was another farmer to have his say on how the live export phase-out would impact his operations. He said while the phase-out would make sheep farming much more difficult, it was not a livelihood he was willing to give up. “At the end of the day, I’m still going to run sheep until the day when it becomes completely financially unviable to run them . . . there’s still going to be demand for local sheep meat consumption.” Mr Broun, whose family has been farming in the Beverley region for more than 150 years, noted concerns regarding small farming operations disappearing in the wake of major enterprises taking over the agriculture scene. “That’s just the way the industry’s going, and the phasing out of live export will probably speed that up,” he said. While Mr Broun was worried about the future of WA’s farming sector, he said he was hopeful the industry would find an equilibrium eventually and farmers could adapt to the challenges thrown at them. “But, it’s going to hurt, and it’s going to reshape the sheep industry,” he said. “It’s going to be felt across the State, and across the country. It’s not just a regional issue. It’s a State-wide issue. “The loss to the industry as a whole is going to trickle down the chain and affect the availability of shearers and availability of trucking resources. The whole interconnected system is going to suffer a substantial hit.”