Federal election 2025: Wheatbelt and Great Southern voters say they are ‘the forgotten people’

Voters in the heartland of WA’s sheep industry say they are “the forgotten people” in politics and are afraid the 2025 Federal election outcome could kill regional towns. Voters had the live export ban and wider agricultural industry top of mind when walking into the East Narrogin Primary School polling booth on Saturday. Independents voter Tash Pettit said she would run for Prime Minister if she could because she was “sick to death seeing our country go down the toilet.” “In the Wheatbelt, we’re the forgotten people,” she said. “We need farmers to keep our country going but we’re looked at last.” Ms Pettit also held a cake stall beside the democracy sausage to fundraise for the East Narrogin Primary School Year 6 camp. Luke Olsen gave his vote to The Nationals because he believed the party supported regional people the most. “Outside of Perth we don’t seem to exist, the last WA election showed that,” he said. “This election I’m valuing live export, obviously the big one, and trying to get some money back into local communities instead of spending it all in Perth.” The 31-year-old said he would like to see funding go into rural healthcare. Eighteen-year-old Stuart Brindley said he did not put Labor on his ballot at all because of the Labor Government’s plan to ban live sheep exports by May 1, 2028. “Sheep are a big part of what we do in Australia, our farmers only get paid for crop once a year so they’ve got to find other incomes throughout the rest of the year, that’s where livestock comes in,” he said. “It’s what rural communities like us do — you’ve got the Wagin Woolorama which is based off our sheep industry. “We need to get rid of Labor, it’s killing our country from the inside.” Working in the agricultural industry, Pierre Maartens, said the Liberal Party policies aligned with regional living. “I think it’s important for us in the country and my clients, especially the farming community, resonates more with their policies,” Mr Maartens said. “The treatment of the sheep industry by Labor doesn’t sit well with me, it’s about local people in their local communities and Labor policies make it harder for living in the country and having viable communities.” The 52 year old also said the cost of living was “out of control”. The Narrogin Town Hall pre-polling booth reported about 400 voters from across the region per day on April 26 and April 28 to May 2. Met with rain and dark clouds, the Lions Club of Narrogin kept everyone warm by supplying democracy sausages from 8am with some of the proceeds going towards a Karinya Aged Hostel community bus. Down in Katanning, farmer Linda Hewson stood with the Liberals on their promise to overturn the live export ban. Ms Hewson said the ban “impacts and undermines the whole Merino sheep industry”. “To take away the opportunity for sheep farmers to sell wethers basically erodes the profitability and stability of anybody’s sheep enterprise, rendering it pretty much useless,” she said. “The flow effects are farmers will not run Merino sheep, there’ll be a huge demise in Merino wool production. With a demise in wool production there’s a huge reduction for need of shearers, wool buyers, stock agents, livestock transporters, ear tag manufacturers. “Then the full impact of that in country towns is devastating and disastrous and I can’t stand for that.” With no democracy sausage pit stop at the Katanning Senior High School polling booth, a diverse mix of voters flowed quickly through the polls. Jim Smith, 72, said that those in politics were “pathetic” and “Australian values had gone to mud”. “Both sides . . . are a disgrace to be honest,” he said. “They got to start looking after Australians, stop immigration, and fix the country: stop fixing everyone else’s country.” Vernice Thomas, 75, said the government needed to give more attention in Australian citizens. “Use the money they’re sending out of the country and out it back into Australia for the Australians,” she said. “We are at the stage we’re glad we’re on the way out and not the way in, if we look at our grandkids it’s not going to be a god country for them.” Despite a large farming population, some voters avoided Liberal and The Nationals vote cards entirely. Anna Stanford, 39, said her vote was with the Greens because she valued climate change and world peace. “The most pressing issues for me are around climate change, it matters to me we have a planet for my kids,” she said. “And world peace, all the major parties’ approaches to Israel’s war on Gaza have been deeply distressing to me other than the Greens. “I strongly believe we need to vote for the world that we want for everyone.”