Opinion

Amplifying your voice: why showing up matters

WoolProducers October 7, 2024

WoolProducers Australia CEO Jo Hall.

THERE have been three significant events occur during the month of September that demonstrate the need for everyone to make the effort to influence both your industry and the agricultural sector in general.

Firstly, for the wool industry voting for WoolPoll 2024 opened on 20 September. As an eligible wool levy payer, this is your triennial opportunity to determine the amount of your wool cheque that goes towards research, development and marketing.

While the wool market continues to remain depressed, now is not the time to check out of the process, it is more important than ever for you to have your say on what you think is an appropriate amount of levy. As a woolgrower, you are going to have to pay the levy regardless as it is a compulsory levy, unlike other private companies that you may wish to invest in there is no opt out clause (unless zero percent is the outcome of the poll). It is your money at the end of the day, surely that is enough incentive to participate in WoolPoll. Voting closes on 1 November.

In terms of broader agricultural advocacy, I was privileged to be asked to speak at the National Farmer Rally held in Canberra on 10 September, where I joined other ag leaders in voicing our concerns about the impacts of government policies negatively impacting the day-to-day operations of how we do business.

I took the opportunity to speak about my family’s 160 years of growing wool on the same piece of land and the fact that the only way that we have succeeded at this was by looking after our people, land, water and animals. While we have operated within the law of the day, we haven’t needed and do not need government interference in running this business.

I also called on governments to work with us and not against us when comes to making decisions that impact us, rather than listening to activists who in some cases want to shut our industries down. Policies and legislation that is set today will have ramifications for years to come.

While estimates of the crowd on the day were around 2000, a bigger crowd would have rammed the message home to parliamentarians. However, to the people that were able to make it a huge thank you. There were attendees who had travelled as far as Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland, giving up their time to make their voices heard.

WPA president Steve Harrison and I also attended the National Farm Advocacy workshop held in Canberra in the last week of September. This important workshop was convened to start looking at a fit-for-purpose model for agricultural advocacy.

The current system is based on state farm organisations (SFOs), peak industry councils and the National Farmers Federation. While this model works, it is in need of evolution to better reflect current production trends and farming practices.

The best future model will ensure that there is a single voice representing the needs of farmers, but also expertise and advocacy at the commodity level directed by grassroots growers.

The importance of any agricultural advocacy is increasingly becoming more urgent, given the vast array of anti-agricultural policies that we are starting to see at both the state and federal levels (which is why the National Farmer Rally was organised in the first place).

But therein lies the problem, advocacy costs money and we are simply seeing farmers, for whatever reason not joining or remaining as members of SFOs. This in turn sees both the representative and financial capacity of those organisations diminish as well as the flow on effect to not be able to fund memberships of national advocacy bodies.

The free-rider effect within agricultural advocacy and representation is a huge issue as there is limited understanding of what advocacy entails and what happens behind the scenes in terms of organisations like ours negotiating with government and other stakeholders for better outcomes for growers. I often say that a lot of people don’t know who WoolProducers are, nor what we do, but they would notice if we weren’t there.

Agricultural advocacy is another example of ‘if you don’t show up and contribute you are missing the opportunity to put your view across’. Become a member of your SFO or become a direct member of WoolProducers to have your say in policies that affect your business and your industry.

So, the takeaway theme here is: don’t let your apathy dictate how you do business. If you have skin in the game but don’t take the time to put your views forward – you forfeit the right to complain when things don’t go your way. There is too much at stake to just leave it to others and why you need to show up and have your say.

This opinion piece

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