TIME away from the agri-political scene has steeled Jock Laurie’s resolve to fight harder for agriculture.
The immediate past president of the NSW Farmers Association has spent the past 12 months out of the spotlight working on his family‘s Walcha sheep and cattle farm in the state's north.
Mr Laurie said the break from agri-politics had given him the chance to see and reflect on the true impact government policy decisions had on farmers, agriculture and regional communities.
He wants to make sure government policy making is balanced and that future legislation is designed to help farmers and rural communities go about their businesses and prosper, not hinder them.
To take up that battle Mr Laurie has set his sights on filling the top job at the National Farmers’ Federation, which is about to become vacant.
The NFF Member’s Council will decide on a new president at its annual general meeting on November 17.
Current NFF president David Crombie is stepping down after four years at the helm with his mandatory term due to expire.
A vote will decide between Mr Laurie and NFF vice-president of the past six years, Charles Burke; a fourth generation cattle grazing farmer from South East QLD.
Whoever gets the prime position will face the immediate challenge of finding an adequate replacement for NFF chief executive Ben Fargher who has announced his intention to resign after six years at the helm and pursue an agribusiness career, with a probable start in the new-year.
Mr Laurie was NSW Farmers Association president from 2005 to 2009 and comes with a high profile, no nonsense reputation.
In a tribute to Mr Laurie on the NSW Farmers Association website, Shadow Federal Agriculture and Food Safety Minister John Cobb described him as a man after his own heart.
“He’s more concerned with getting a result than how he gets there,” Mr Cobb said.
“If it’s a tough issue he is not a populist; he says what he believes is in the best interest of the farmers of our State.”
The tribute also includes tongue in cheek comments from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and another from Water Minister Tony Burke, each praising Mr Laurie’s work.
It will be interesting to see if the NFF takes a double barrelled approach to its new leadership group and signal a new direction of the industry’s peak lobby group, by appointing a CEO with similar qualities to Mr Laurie.
Or, they may decide to go for someone with less flare but one that offers more stable, back-room support for a potentially flamboyant leader.
Mr Laurie said in four years as NSW Farmers Association president he did all he could to represent the industry and influence State and Federal Government legislation and policies, that were right for the industry and generated flow-on benefits for rural communities.
He said he planned to adopt the same approach at the NFF if he succeeded in getting elected later this month.
“I have been in agriculture my whole life and my boys are coming through now,” he said.
“I want to do all I can to ensure that any political decisions are the right ones.
“I’ve been out of NSWF now for 12 months and have really enjoyed fitting back into the family business.
“But I don’t think my views have changed in that time.
“Taking a break from the agri-political scene has been fantastic but it has also reinforced my reasons for getting involved at with NSW Farmers Association in the first place and the importance of getting policies right.
“Sitting back you can see the impact these policies have on farmers around Australia, not just in NSW, and that’s why it’s vitally important we get it right.”
As NSW Farmers Association president, Mr Laurie sat on the NFF board and held posts on various committees, including industrial relations.
He said he gained “quite a lot of experience” dealing with State and Federal governments in those roles.
Mr Laurie declined to single out one big policy win in his previous agri-political career, choosing instead to share the accolades.
“We had lots of good wins and I was part of that; we fought hard on issues like drought and water,” he said.
Of the main challenges facing NFF in the immediate future, Mr Laurie said the Murray Darling Basin and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme’s potential negative impact on agriculture were the two big ones.
“It’s critically important we get the balance right; it doesn’t seem to be fair and reasonable at the moment,” he said.
“Why would you want to decimate rural communities?”
Mr Laurie said the broader Australian community also needed to understand the financial and emotional impact of government policy making, on rural communities.
He also believes the NFF has a critical role to play in the hung Federal Parliament that is controlled by key rural independents.
He said the NFF’s role would be to ensure policies were created that allowed rural businesses and their towns to thrive “so they are all part of healthy regional communities”.
Mr Laurie said the policy making approach also needed to be broad and include scientific research, other community and business groups linked to agriculture.
“Rural people have been taking a belting for some time now,” he said.
“They have been belted on poor policy outcomes, funding neglect for infrastructure and funding for rural health and hospital issues; and they have been for some time.
“I hope this hung parliament will make a difference and Simon Crean’s new regional portfolio is also important to us.
“People in regional Australia are in a fair state of neglect; that’s what I mean by a belting.”
