Opinion
Our farmers want the rest of Australia to know they may be down right now due to one of the worst-ever droughts on record, but they're certainly not out.
They also want others to know they may be doing it tough at the moment – and the public and government relief support is greatly appreciated – but they’re also among the best and most resilient business people in the nation and they’ll bounce back in time, when conditions change.
Our farmers would also like other Australians to know – especially those who mostly dwell in major metropolitan cities – they’re the world’s best environmentalists who work twice as hard during tough times because soil sustainability is intrinsically linked to their profitability and survival.
And the task of conveying such important and at times complex messages, to broaden and expand the public’s general knowledge and understanding about life on the land, is what our rural media does best.
Speaking at the Rural Press Club of Victoria last week, and at the Farm Writers Association of NSW late last month, gave me a great opportunity to acknowledge and underline the vital role our rural reporters play in bringing to light and sharing the stories which matter most, to those people living beyond the city-limits.
This responsibility is something I had the privelege to experience during my early career as a journalist and Editor of The Daily Advertiser in Wagga Wagga, several years prior to entering Federal Politics.
Coming from an intergenerational farming family, and despite breaking family tradition to embark on an alternative career in journalism, agriculture remains dear to my heart and integral to my political focus given its inherent economic and social value to the people of the Riverina.
Regional communities sometimes suffer from the tyranny of distance by having to receive or deal with services which may be of a lesser quality than those afforded to our city cousins.
But when it comes to the rural media no such gap exists – we are fortunate to benefit from having dedicated reporters and story-tellers with their fingers on the bush pulse who know where to harvest the facts and produce the good stories.
At times such as this with drought biting hard, it’s important to maintain positivity about rural and regional Australia, while balancing that brighter outlook with the tougher truths which also need to be told.
But let’s always remember, our farmers don’t want people thinking they’ve all got the backside hanging out of their pants or that their industry is some kind of charity case just looking for government handouts to get by.
That’s where the rural media can step in to help conveny those important stories which not only tell the world about the perils and hardship of drought, but also help to inform others about where and when farmers and regional communities have diversified and found ways to overcome adversity, often with science and business acumen driving their discoveries.
It’s important we continue sharing such fresh messages of positivity because the rain will eventually arrive again and when it does you can bet your last dollar the six o’clock news bulletins and major tabloids will boldly declare the drought is over.
Drought will disappear from the front pages of the metropolitan tabloids and television screens and is replaced by the next crazy cat video or someone performing some far-out stunt taking in the next social media phenomenon, as audiences move on rapidly, with the drought likely forgotten.
It’s important the rural media, in the same way rural politicians do, continue telling stories of our rural communities so Australians don’t easily forget the challenges we face, but are also gently reminded about the quality of people who make it such a great place to live and work.
Farmonline is expanding its content with articles by industry and political leaders to feature regularly.
