National Agriculture Rally in Canberra shows ‘fight’ against live export ban still strong, says Federal MP

Swathes of protesters attended the National Agriculture Rally in Canberra last week, with the Keep The Sheep movement representing WA farmers in the fight against the ban on live export of sheep. Among the estimated 2000 people at Parliament House on September 10 was Member for O’Connor Rick Wilson. He said one of the main issues discussed at the rally was the Keep The Sheep movement. “It was a huge effort for around 100 West Australian farmers and truckies and shearers,” he said. “Ben Sutherland (from Keep The Sheep) took his truck over from Ravensthorpe — was about $6000 worth of fuel. (It was) a massive effort for people to get there, and they were well supported by Eastern States farmers and truckies who also turned out. “Eastern States farmers turned out to support their WA colleagues because there’s this general feeling that farming is under siege from a Labor Government that’s focused on the inner city and not regional Australia. “There’s a whole lot of issues going on in agriculture at the moment which, put together, farmers feel are anti-agriculture.” Other agricultural issues were also discussed including water buybacks, with his concern as a rural member about “less and less voters” in regional and rural Australia. “More and more people that live in our cities have no connection or understanding of agriculture, and then we have this activist class, which has been turbocharged by social media, who can turn one unfortunate incident into a major media event,” Mr Wilson said. “When I was growing up in primary school in the 70s, everybody had an uncle or an aunty who was a farmer. People visited farms for their summer holidays to visit rellies, and they had a connection with agriculture. “That doesn’t exist anymore.” Mr Wilson said he had been urging Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to make an announcement about the reversal of the ban to instil “a little bit of confidence” for people in the sheep trade. “Peter Dutton and David Littleproud reaffirmed that one of the first pieces of legislation that (a) Coalition government would be put into the Parliament after the election, if we’re successful, will be to reverse the ban on live sheep exports,” he said. “If we do win the next election, the trade will be restored, and that they can get on with doing what they do best, particularly down in the Bridgetown and Boyup Brook areas. Mr Wilson said one of the “great results” from the rally in Canberra was the publicity for the Keep The Sheep movement. “Farmers feel like the Keep The Sheep movement has given them a way of fighting back,” he said. “The main feeling that I get from people who I talk to, not just in Canberra, but broadly across the WA ag communities, is that the Keep The Sheep movement has given them an opportunity to push back against these organisations that constantly attack their industry.”