Man's inhumanity to man never ceases to fill one with horror. But this is confusing the corruption of so-called governments (dictators) with the operation of free markets (which are neither free nor perfect but are a damn sight more equitable than fascism or communism).
I am intrigued as to why the life and culture of the farmer is seen as so special, sacrosanct to some? There are fewer jobs for artisans than there were before the industrial revolution. One assumes their descendants re-trained as computer programmers and did quite well, than you very much. And I bet the descendants of those coal miners, who coughed their life away in English villages or the mill workers of Leeds and Lancashire, aren't hankering for the 'good old days'. On balance, and taking the long view, these changes were for the good of the employees and the good of the community who got cheaper goods through industrialisation. The truth is people want cheap food and successful nations rely on open, robust trade.
The inevitable solution to Cribb's impassioned cri de coeur is government intervention, costly taxes and regulations that, like that political stunt, the carbon tax, weigh on competitiveness of nations and on the entire community. It is no solution at all. Isn't it time we realised, given the wasteful global climate conferencing that has been going on since Kyoto, that global solutions won't work.
Incidentally, the number of dairy farms in Australia is closer to 7000 (not 3000 - see Dairy Australia's website) and while this is an apparently dramatic decrease, the farms are larger, more technologically advanced and more profitable than ever before (on average) despite the vagaries of international prices and greedy consumers wanting cheap milk. A return to 'noble peasant' agriculture will not feed the hungry.