Exhausted, frustrated and fed-up farmers filled the ABC Q&A audience last night, but no one was more eloquent in getting the message across than 21-year-old panelist Kate McBride, a grazier from Menindee.
Sitting on a panel with the federal Minister for Water, Resources and Drought and the Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Kate was fierce in her defence of people on the land.
“Drought packages are focused on big people, big business… there’s this idea that you get big or get out. That’s the genuine feeling,” she told them.
Here’s Kate going head to head with the Minister for Drought, David Littleproud. Post continues after video.
Kate couldn’t help but shoot furious looks at the two politicians throughout the entirety of the hour-long show as they defended government mismanagement of water. Kate retorted with calls for a royal commission into the handling of the Murray Darling Basin, a statement that was met with cheers from the crowd.
“That’s the only way I see a future, we need to get to the bottom of what’s gone wrong,” she said.
“There are people leaving the land out our way and millions of fish dying and it was only after videos went viral that we had anybody come out and visit us,” she explained.
It was the response to a country principal’s story about a young boy at his school who asked: “Is there anybody outside Trundle that really cares about us?” that really showed the stark difference between what was front of mind for politicians verses farming families.
“I’ve got kids that are going out to their farms and they don’t know what Dad will do tomorrow. Whether they’ll be there next week or somebody will foreclose on their farm,” John Southern from Trundle recalled on the brink of tears.
But as David Littleproud and Joel Fitzgibbon argued with each other about the amount of money being allocated to families, and the “lies” apparently heard in parliament about what the government was or wasn’t doing, Kate wasn’t having any of it.
“The question was about what’s the future for the kids, and that’s exactly my question as well,” she said when host Hamish McDonald asked her what she thought of their squabbling.
“As a young farmer, I’m 21 years old, where is my future in all this? I spoke to people this week saying there were people in their communities taking kids out of boarding school because they can’t afford it anymore,” she said.
"That’s destroying their future. But they get dragged back to a property where they can’t see a future themselves. What are we doing for these kids? They come home and there’s nothing for them there.
"What are we doing and how are we helping these kids?" she asked, putting the politician's 'he said, he said' argument to shame.
In another fierce retort between Kate and David Littleproud, she told the minister he was effectively telling her community there was nothing they could do for them.
"[We have] the lowest ever inflows into Menindee Lakes and that’s not just because of drought. Point the finger at mismanagement and over-extraction. How can you say to those people, and myself included that live along there, ‘we’re not going to put any more water back in the river from buybacks. You guys have to sit at the end of the river and die’. That’s what you’re telling us right now,” she told him.
A question from Wilcannia Indigenous leader, Badger Bates, asking why his river was so dry was met with "I'm sorry, I can't make it rain," from Littlewood. To which a fired up Kate replied with,"When it does rain, that water is embargoed by the states. So that water can’t actually get down to places like Wilcannia. I’ve been out there and know the people there. The male life expectancy of that town is 37. How are we not fixing those issues?”
"Our townships are dying. It’s heartbreaking. That’s where I was born and brought up. It’s my home. Now there’s nothing there. You can hardly go into the shops to get the things you need," she told the panel.
Social media fell in love with the young farmer, who so eloquently put into words what the politicians involved in the night seemed to be unable to comprehend.
Did you watch Q&A last night? What were your thoughts on the discussion? Let us know in the comments below.
Top Comments
I don't know why the government would be handing out drought relief to any business, considering they hate socialism and are all about the free market and capitalism. Farms are quick to ask for handouts in tough times, but seem happy to keep all their profits in boom times. If you can't manage your land, have unsustainable business practice, or continue to farm in regions hit by drought, then your business is untenable and I fail to see why tax payers need to continually bail you out. Better land and waterways management is what the government needs to focus on, not bailouts and unsustainable dam permits to big business and unsustainable farms.
Hi Laura, I am farming with my husband in WA. I guess you have to consider whether you want Australia to continue to grow food? We mange to have a profitable business in some of the driest land in the world, more importantly than, a farm is more a business. We grow basic food which feeds a large number of people. What could be more important than feeding people? Farmers these days also mange their land carefully, I wonder what would would happen to it if farmers left it, and joined the overcrowded cities, like you seem to infer would be best? You say we keep all the benefits in good times, I can tell you, we pay enormous taxes in the good times, most of ends up in the cities, we certainly don’t see much trickling back to our communities. I believe our business is vital. If you are happy to discard and belittle what we do, think about the bigger picture, where Australia will have to import all it’s food from other countries like China, is that what you want? I am proud of my husband and what he goes through yo produce high quality food, in pretty crap conditions much of the time.
Hi Laura, I farm with my husband in WA. While we are not technically in drought as our Eastern States colleagues currently are, we certainly have low rainfall, and have had very dry years. We manage to produce high quality food for a large number of people. I guess Australia has to ask itself if we want to continue to produce food, or would we rather import all our food from countries such as China. While I agree that unsustainable practices have to go, and of course they will, farming is more than a business - it produces food - what could be more important, or vital, than growing food for the population? I don't understand why you think we "keep all our profits in boom times" - we pay our taxes like everyone else - most of which our communities never see again - we see all sorts of extravagances in the cities when we get a chance to visit. We pay enormous amounts to send our children to boarding school, and are separated from our children from the age of 12, we have 2nd rate health facilities, very little of our taxes trickles back to our towns. I wonder what would happen if, as you seem to suggest, we get the farmers off their land, and they join our overcrowded cities, and the job market? What would happen to the land they have cared for and managed, and loved, as farmers do? What would happen to the Australian economy without our contributions in exports? Thanks for your belittling and ill - informed comments, but I am proud of my husband and what our farm business contributes and produces, in often trying and isolating conditions.
By that comment I doubt you have much understanding of the state of farming in this country. The Government may be crowing about their assistance packages but very little of it actually goes to help anyone. Most farmers are in the predicament they're in because they've barely had a price rise for what they sell in decades (consider the base price for most fruit and vege, we're paying very little more per kg than we did twenty years ago) yet the price inputs - water, fuel, electricity, land rates have all sky-rocketed. Farmers have had to absorb all those increases and lose their profit margin. When you have to operate at nearly 100 percent of your capacity just to break even, you haven't much to put aside to get you through the tough times. Contrary to popular belief, most farmers are super keen to invest in new technologies and renewable practices but when you can't catch a break or your breath it's a pretty hopeless situation. But by your assessment they should all just give up, walk away and let the rest of the country starve.
Spoken by someone who I doubt has ever left the cosy confines of suburbia. I think I remember you writing a comment (in a different article) that you eat meat. Exactly where would you like your meat, milk, grains etc to be sourced from?
While I commend Kate McBride’s efforts on Q and A, I was disappointed that there was very little focus on the underlying issues of drought; in particular that while this is the worst drought on record, the NFF spokesperson dismissed it as a 1 in 100 year drought. Unfortunately with climate change, scientists have predicted that droughts will become more frequent in Australia and that even during the wetter times, there will be less rainfall.
Also, the MDB has been mismanaged for years, but as one of the indigenous questioners pointed out, the natural environment always loses out. Without environmental flows being prioritised the rivers, sadly will eventually die out. In my opinion Australia needs to change the way it farms and to listen to the Indigenous community who have been living off the land for more than 60,000 years. As Bruce Pascoe’s book ‘Dark Emu’ points out, Indigenous people farmed the land in a way that was sustainable to this continent.
You highlight important aspects.
Farming is a business, and yet they constantly receive taxpayer subsidies during hard times but reap the rewards during good times. The hard truth is English farming techniques aren't applicable in Australia, such as cotton farming using a ridiculous amount of water in drought ridden NSW.
More so, ignoring the impact of climate change and using the short-term drought by drought approach is unsustainable.
And when all the farmers go get new jobs where is our food going to come from? Can't buy Australian made if there is no one to grow it.
People are not buying Australian made, that's been an issue for decades.
As with other industries, the supply will be from other countries. Our farmers export their product overseas too, they understand this.
Ok, so the world is 'dying' but the answer is to import our food? If the situation wasn't so serious it would laughable. Much of Australia no longer uses 'English farming techniques' we've been farming long enough here to learn new ways and work with the land, not against it. And it's not about farmers not getting the information out, it's that people don't want to know because then their conscience might stop them from buying $1 a litre milk. A classic example of why our farmers are in this predicament. If you know any farmers who have a stash of cash they reaped in the good times point me in their direction. All the ones I know are using any profits to pay down debt, refine their practices and improve their land. There hasn't been good times for at least a decade because the increase in the price of inputs far, far outstrips the increase in the price of outputs (or the decrease in some cases). It's ludicrous and unless the urban dwellers wake up to the real state of this country soon, quite frankly we're doomed. Hope you all can enjoy the chemical laden, inferior quality imported food that will likely come from countries exploiting their workers and environment far, far worse than we do here. I guess you can turn a blind eye to that too though.