Farmers view Greens as the new black

By EWAN GILBERT
The Greens’ record electoral success in state polls last month (March 20, 2010), and their recent strong polling across Australia, could be due in part to the most unlikely of allies.

Farmers’ groups across Australia are advising their members to look past previous gripes and appreciate the changing attitudes surrounding the Greens.

It is a relationship that is often stretched to opposite ends of the political spectrum but National Farmers Federation chief executive Ben Fargher said the Greens’ traction was something they shouldn’t ignore.

“The fact of the matter is, see what happens in September, October, November this year, with the Greens and preferences and the influence of those political parties and their success. We need to be engaging in that debate,” Mr Fargher said.

It’s a situation that must be of some concern to the major parties who have in recent times secured most of the rural vote.

Greens leader Bob Brown labelled the weekend’s Tasmanian and South Australian results as a “strong message to both Liberal and Labor”.

A report commissioned by the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association before their state election showed that the Greens’ policies reflected their own principles more often than either Labor or Liberal.

In comments to his local paper, Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim was quick to praise the farming community following the report’s findings.

“Farmers have a close association with the land that they work and understand the need for sustainability better than most; in that way I have always thought they have a natural affinity in common with the Greens.”

Back in Canberra, Mr Fargher feels that often people are automatically forming the conclusion that the Green movement and farmers must always be at odds.

“Look what’s happening in the water debate at the moment, every time we talk about the science and the balance between production and the environment, people will try and put it as a farmer v. environment debate,” Mr Fargher said.

“And we have not done a good job of explaining that farmers and irrigators need a healthy river too.”

It will come down to, in his opinion, an attempt to remove the jargon from debates and communicate their issues more clearly with politicians and the community.

“The politics surrounding these green issues are extremely important,” he said.

“Our ability to engage in a smart way, not a farmer v. environment way, is extremely important and as yet we haven’t done a good enough job.”