I think in general, Aussie farmers do it tough. There are clearly swings and roundabouts and maybe some do spend up big in bumper years (and there are also some very lucrative agricultural sub-sectors out there - just ask some Moree cotton farmers how they do ;-), but I think in the case of this important industry, that we should generalise because the industry is collectively important (self sufficiency/sustainability is really the be-all and end-all) and consider that there are far bigger opportunities.
Time for our government to take this industry seriously. We used to 'ride on the sheep's back' and eventually, someone will wake up and realise that the opportunity to do this once again has been staring us in the face for years - hopefully they don't wake up too late.
This is not intended to be a political comment - more the reality of how we as a Country should be thinking and planning, but maybe the Nationals need to threaten succession from the Coalition unless they are taken more seriously. Looking at the National's website, they say they The Nationals is the party for regional Australia (I guess they cannot be seen to be competing in the Lib's patch).
"The Nationals stand for all regional Australians.
We believe the future of regional Australia is critical to the future of our nation."
Perhaps The Nationals should change their message to:
"The Nationals stand for all regional Australians.
We believe the future of regional Australia is critical to the future of our nation."
If The Nationals were to reinvent themselves as a party for all Australians (Country and City), I reckon they'd get far more votes. Maybe an alternative to The National Party is the only way this would happen...
Pity this discussion about the importance of agriculture is taking place under the thread title "from the humour forum" because it really is not a joke.
