United by a fierce desire to stand up for agriculture, farmers from across the country, including Kyabram’s Richard Russell and his brother Rob from Euroa, descended on Canberra on Tuesday, to send a clear message to Canberra: No Farmers, no food.
The rally was initially organised by Western Australia farmers after the Albanese Government announced it was banning live sheep exports by May 1, 2028.
As the rally gained momentum other issues were soon added to the agenda, including water buybacks, transmission lines and loss of prime farming land to renewable energy investment.
For Richard and Rob this was not their first rodeo, having attended the Can the Plan rally back in 2019.
The brothers said they made the long trip again because the Albanese Government was attacking agriculture across many levels and they desperately want change.
“If you don’t get involved you are part of the problem,” Richard said.
“It seems all our elected politicians fall into a Canberra bubble when they are elected and don’t represent us at all.”
Irrigators and mixed farmers Mark and Susie Green from Forbes attended the rally in protest because they said the government was not listening, particularly when it comes to water.
“Government has taken too much water from the southern basin and they changed the rules so they could ignore the social, economic and environmental protections which were in place,” Ms Green said.
But it wasn’t just farmers who spoke to the crowd.
Transport operator Benno Sutherland made the long trip to Canberra from Western Australia because the loss of the live sheep trade means a 30 per cent loss to his business revenue, which then flows onto jobs and employment opportunities.
“There are so many issues in this country when it comes to agriculture and we are sick of all these stupid decisions.”
He had one message for the politicians.
“Reverse the legislation (banning of live sheep exports) for a start and come out and visit the people in rural Australia and see the damage you are doing,” Mr Sutherland said.
National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said the rally was to put all political parties on notice.
“Farmers want a fair go and there are too many alternative voices setting the agenda,” Mr Jochinke said.
“We need to stay united and push our voice first because no-one else will.”
Mr Jochinke urged everyone to make their voices heard, particularly with an election just around the corner.
The Opposition led by Liberal leader Peter Dutton told the vocal crowd if elected they would scrap the live export ban and water buybacks.