The Agriculture Sector Speaks Out

My first impressions of the committee hearing were that, whilst it seemed very proper and formal, with words such as being ”conversant with the terms of the inquiry” making the process seem very heavy, I was relieved that I didn’t have to endure the usually bickering I had to watch when I was analysing question time. As it was a committee hearing inquiring into the agriculture sector of New South Wales (29 August 2007), the issues discussed have been very topical as of late, hence aroused great debate on the important issues of sustainability and the environment. I also found the issues to be of great interest to myself due to the big hype that has emerged in relation to securing Australia’s environmental future, and found it was especially beneficial for me to gain such a deep understanding of the experiences farmers face and the issues relating to their work, especially at such a hard time.

Although I understand the nature of this hearing to be different with representatives expressing their views as opposed to senators being held accountable for their actions, I found the issues discussed to be very worthwhile and intelligent, enjoying the absence of the slandering match that goes on during question time, where one senator would accuse one and then would retaliate very condescendingly. In this case solutions were being presented in the hope that real problems could be fixed, and great planning and research had obviously gone into the presentation of the problems and solutions. Professor Michael Archer who spoke first, certainly opened up my eyes to the issues farmers have, in particular with kangaroos which I found to be very interesting, as I had never been exposed to these kind of issues farmer face before. He was so well researched and a great debater that I really enjoyed listening to him.

I especially liked Archer’s golfing analogy; where a golfer who takes many clubs to play golf to account for the challenges the face him, was paralleled to the need for Australia to have a number of strategies to combat the different problems that could arise in relation to the possible extinction of animals and communities.

The introduction of the Farmers Association members and the second discussion, again highlighted the importance of procedure in the chamber. The obvious necessity for the representatives to name their “capacity” individually, as “a member of the Rural Alliance” indicated the longstanding protocols of such hearings and alerted me to the fact that this background information was important for all involved, as opposed to the senate, where members and their positions would already have been known to everyone else in the chamber.
Once again it was interesting to hear different groups views on agriculture sustainability expressed, as like in Australian society, everyone seems to have an opinion on this topic. Another interesting discussion was the issue of meat exportation differences between the states. I learnt so much about the little things that make such a big impact on the overall farming community, and enjoyed listening to solutions proposed during this time.

Coming away from the hearing made me realise how complicated and stressful it would be to be in government. The hearing was only focusing on one sector of the community, where many representatives strongly believed they deserved funding for a number of reasons. Yet one look at the long list of committees on the parliamentary website, indicates the great competition there is for attention and funding of the different issues that affect the different sectors.
Overall I found the hearing to be a very interesting experience. To witness the avenues people in the community have to voice their opinions, debate the running of the country and promote government action in relation to certain issues was very beneficial. I pity the different governments for being faced with so many different groups all believing they deserve and need money for their own specific benefit and definitely do not envy the positions of those in government!