Furious farmers say they have ‘no friends’ in Canberra as they protest live export ban

More than a thousand furious farmers have gathered outside Parliament House to protest “activists who want to shut down Aussie farms.” Generations of farmers clad in plaid and denim swarmed Federation Mall on Tuesday, waving placards and cheering as speakers voiced their ire at parliamentarians. “We’re not under any illusions here, mate,” Gerry, a Riverina cattle farmer, told NewsWire. “We know we have no friends here.” But she said farmers would “be heard all the same.” Finding kind words about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese or Coalition leaders Peter Dutton and David Littleproud was tough, with most saying all of them had forgotten rural and regional Australia. “They’ve abandoned all of us,” retired farmer Dennis said. In his early 80s, Dennis could barely stand due to back pain but made his way to Canberra from his family farm in the Southwest slopes of NSW. “They don’t care and they don’t see. There’s not a decent one in there.” Opposition Leader Peter Dutton addressed the crowd, where he committed to overturning the live sheep export ban. “We’re committed to your sector, we want to make sure that there’s a bright future for you, for your kids and for your great-grandkids,” he told the crowd. “I think the Prime Minister should revisit his decision not to be here with us today, to come down, to come down and say to you that the Albanese government has made a terrible mistake.” Instead of listening to farmers, Mr Dutton accused the Albanese government of “listening to Green voters” in the nation’s big cities. “The government is listening to Green voters in inner cities, Sydney and Melbourne,” he said. “That’s why you are being sold out, and that is not a feature of the Liberal and National party coalition.” Though, plenty in the crowd did not share Mr Dutton’s sentiments, as shown when his Nationals counerpart David Littleproud was heckled over his stint as water resources minister in the previous Coalition government. Mr Littleproud, who had just moments earlier promised to “look you in the eye” and “tell you how it is”, quickly became hostile. “I’m happy to stand here every day of the week and tell you what I did as a water minister and the reforms I put in place that have meant more people are sitting in regional Australia, more businesses are still surviving, rather than this lazy buyback option,” he said. Among the top issues on farmer’s minds were the ban on live sheep exports by sea, calls to scrap the diesel fuel rebate, and a proposed biosecurity levy that would force producers to foot 6 per cent of the bill for Australia’s biosecurity system.