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Farmers Rally To Fight For Farms

The rights of farmers were at the forefront of the minds of Nationals politicians in Canberra today as thousands of people gathered outside Parliament House to protect the right to farm.

So many people had travelled for many hours to have their say and this led on from the important work the Agmates community did to take Peter Spencer's plight to the media. They were also instrumental in getting him to end his protest.

Our farmers are one of Australia’s most precious resources and we must do all that is possible to ensure the right to farm is maintained. My Nationals colleagues Warren Truss, Mark Coulton, Ron Boswell, Bruce Scott, Barnaby Joyce, Nigel Scullion and John Williams were there to hear speakers including Peter Spencer. The numbers of those attending showed that today’s rally was more than one man’s fight.

The NSW Farmers Association must be congratulated for the tremendous effort in organising the rally and bringing farmers from all over NSW and from Queensland. Some travelled through the night to be there.

It was good to see familiar faces in the crowd and new ones as well as they brought their message to Canberra. There were people protesting against mining on prime agricultural land, farmers demanding better access to water and landholders who want to protect their asset for future generations.

It was heartening to see Coalition Leader Tony Abbott address them. The Leader of the Nationals in the Senate, Senator Barnaby Joyce, inspired the farmers with his speech supporting them in their demand for action from elected representatives to protect property rights. He also set out our agenda in continuing to oppose the Rudd Labor Government’s Emissions Trading Scheme.

We won that fight last year and we will win it again with the support of all those fair-minded Australians who do not want to have a massive new tax dumped on them. In this election year it is good to see that the Australian people are motivated enough to bring their message to Canberra. We will do all that we can to make sure that message is heard.

Tags: Barnaby+Joyce, Fiona+Nash, Peter+Spencer, Tony+Abbott, Warren+Truss

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by June Beckett on February 2, 2010 at 5:24pm

Thank you, Fiona.
By all accounts the day was a tremendous success with a very big crowd. I only wish I could have been there. But I consoled myself by watching H of R on Foxtel. Krudd is decidedly rattled and Tony A did brilliantly. Plenty of passion, even a little red-faced - which is exactly what we want. No ums and ahs - just facts. The polls show that the Coalition are doing a lot better and while we have a long way to go yet until the actual election, the situation has turned completely around from those depressing days under MT. Well done again to you, Fiona, for your staunch and courageous stand on this issue.

Permalink Reply by Rob Moore on February 2, 2010 at 8:34pm

Well done Fiona and also to all your team. The Govt would be very unwise to continue to ignore us all. Tony Burke ,Agforce ,VFF, NFF and the like will be on the representative scap heap when all this settles.

Their inaction speaks volumes to to those they claim to represent!

Permalink Reply by Peter Lockhart on February 2, 2010 at 9:53pm

Congratulations Fiona and all your colleagues for the support you gave the farmers at todays Rally,but you all fail to see that this RALLY must support ALL Australians to retain their rights that are outlined in our CONSTITUTION therefore it is imperative that you gain support from ALL Australians ,not just the farmers,to defeat the implementation of the "BRIGALOW CORPORATION" act that applies to the state of
Queensland. Cheers Peter.

Permalink Reply by terence shanahan on February 3, 2010 at 12:10am

Congratulations to the coalition on a good day in the parliament Fiona.

Perhaps you should ensure that Tony Abbot is aware that the land rights actions of the states involves
the removal of land ownership from households as well as farmers in those states making changes to their laws. I understand the effect is that nobody owns the land that they think they have bought; none of us.

I get the feeling that parliamentarians believe things like the Copenhagen Treaty and the Brigalow style state law changes are too outrageously unfair to be more than the insane imaginings of a few cranks. Yet the things are there available via google to be read by all.

I would also say that Mike Rann in South Australia is probably just jumping the gun when introducing his internet laws for the election censorship rights. It is too much of a coincidence to believe that the labor premiers and Rudd havent discussed this stuff and Rudd will try to do the same thing for the federal election. After all, Rudd is already seeking to censor the net. All this really is nothing but intimidation to try to force people to use the newspapers for comment when he knows these avenues are limited and at the whim of editorial judgement on what gets printed.

Blogging is popular because it is open to all; one doesnt have to be a Rhodes Scholar to have his say and it is basically anonymous to other bloggers. You dont expect to get a crank call at 0300hrs from a public booth and subject to harassment. This is the real effect of having real identities exposed and Rann's move then is an intimidating requirement. This needs to played up to in the parliament because I believe it is the way Rudd is intent on going. This is not the Australian way; with Rudd that is understandable.

Terence Shanahan

Permalink Reply by Janet H. Thompson on February 3, 2010 at 12:48am