Subsidise Australian farmers if need be!

Many Australian farmers and politicians of both major parties have long argued against the farm subsidies in the US and the European Union and of course these should go, but they don't. That is the reality no matter how many conferences of the WTO are devoted to their abolition. This undoubtedly difficult situation is the result of the internal political dynamics of those countries, not of corruption or unethical behaviour. And it certainly cannot be a justification for the unethical behaviour by the AWB in Iraq. The response in Australia to the subsidies has been an odd one. Because free trade is a good thing, certainly in Liberal Party ideology, the American and European farmers are the baddies. I heard the complaints of this nature once from a retired Chairman of the WA Grain Board when traveling inTurkey in 1999. The very knowledgeable gentleman lamented that he had seen many farmers gone under as a result of these subsidies. But why have Australian farmers not received the same protection in order to compete on a more level playing ground? And why must we always hear that measures such as a Government wheat export monopoly is "agrarian socialism"? I is simply common sense. Australia should negotiate for free trade, not just for themselves as competent producers but also for the developing world, but in the meantime can it afford to let their own farmers sink? I think farmers in Australia need all the protection they can get from the Government, from all Governments state, and federal. The bad protection days are long past and we live in a very different world. We would be much better off providing appropriate, matching subsidies than engaging in paying kick-backs to rogue regimes.

Klaas Woldring

Klaas, it could of course be argued that the subsidies that the EU
and US provide, is a form of Govt corruption of free and fair trade.
In fact if any industry is corrupted by Governments worldwide,
it is agriculture, so Aussie farmers have to paddle through that
maze as best they can.

Lets face it, copying the European situation, where farmers are better at farming the taxpayer then farming the land, might solve short term political problems, but does not create an efficient industry.

As a small nation, Australia needs to trade and needs alliances.
You are correct, backing the Bush regime is a problem, but alliances are sometimes formed with the long term in mind, not just during one ignorant prez's term. Its no point for Australia to form alliances with the EU, considering how dismally we are treated by them.

There are answers, more trade with SE Asia as growth continues there.
Turning wheat into ethanol is another one. But they will take time.

To Tony Kevin and Company,

Keep on going for it, mates - but maybe you won’t like us when we tell you we are agrarian socialists, but certainly no commo’s, giving reminder how Stalin banished and slew the Russian Kulaks because he would not stand by the promise from Lenin that if the Kulak social revolutionaries helped the commo’s get power, they could keep their own farms.

It was a social togetherness by the majority that helped the Aussie cockies get their way during the Great Depression, being granted price stabilisation and one control board or single desk. It was also when the Australian Country Party came into strength, having been first formed in Victoria by the cow cockies. It was later that Black Jack McKewan took charge standing up to Menzies - only wish us cockies could have someone like Black Jack right now.

Though our government is worried about today’s wheat trading so suddenly, it is certainly about time. With so much of our wealth coming from far deeper down than a grain crop, and ordinary city people on cloud nine with cheap Chinese clothing, etc, etc, most of our public is not conscious about problems in the bush Happy consumers is, oh, so important. Such things also lower inflation, and it is so interesting that our government gets the credit for it when they shouldn’t.

Talking as West Aussies, we must say that Leon Bradley, Chairman of Barry Court’s PGA, belongs to the same group of smart-arse elitists as the Primary Producer’s Assoc’ who lost the plot during the Great Depression by backing the big buyers like Bunge and Louis Dreyfus, who like some unscrupulous Jew woolbuyers would with poor rural communications have the farmer cockie agreeing to a far lower price over a town phone, than was actually being offered in Chicago, seat of the world grain trade.

Part Two

It also must be reminded that Barry Court is pushing us WA cockies to join the same old grain trade, where nearly all the world’s big grain dealers like Dreyfus, Bunge and Cargills, belong to nations that are subsiding their graingrowers mainly to gain the rural vote, as George W’ might tell you how wise he was when first elected to promise 80 billion dollars over the next ten years, in rural subsidies mostly for the huge graingrowing Midwest.

As West Aussie kids us bush oldies can remember in Dalwallinu, a big district which had the more wealthy cockies to the south who supported equal to now Barry Court’s PGA, but in the north were the newer cockies. mostly former miners, who supported the red-ragging Cockies Union. And it is so interesting that the Farmer’s Unions won the fight all over Australia, helped somewhat with rifles in the cabs of trucks and under wagon seats, to keep certain smart arse farmers from moving onto the weigh bridges.

Of course it can’t come to that now with our fabulous underground pit-stocks, but it is believed us bushies still need that mental fire, which some call commonsense while the more learned might call it insight which as Socrates would say, can be gained much more by sound reasoning, than through having misguided faith in bad governments.

Good old Aussie talk lets get fairdinkum on this issue, most would understand goverment just had to know about the lies and the bribes.
While we marched to war with America another war has been about for a long while a trade war.
Aussie weat was to be sold not American so lies rolled with the money.
Another war came and Howard must never be seen to have dirt on his hands so we will only talk of honesty never hear the truth but know it still.
This shamefull goverment has dragged unions and Australian workers to the butcher shop for no good reason, now it leaves our once proud name in world trade on that shop floor.
Pig iron Bob would be no fan of Howards if he lived today.

Wasn't it great to hear that the Iraqi's were still willing to purchase Australian wheat but from others other than the AWB? Hopefully that news has eased some of the fears and stress that our long suffering wheat farmers were feeling.

It was impressive that belatedly Johhny managed to do a complete backflip and not send the AWB chairman on the trade mission to solve the problem that should have been addressed when the Govt was first informed allegedly back in 2001.

The single desk selling system should stay... it is a good system for our farmers.

However in Johnny's statement to the house last week he mentioned that the AWB "own the wheat". Surely the farmers don't sell anything to the AWB without the "Romalpa" clause or the wheat is held in trust. The AWB hasn't sold it yet or is this another letting down of the farmers hidden in the web?

Surely ownership of the wheat isn't transferred in totality to the AWB until the farmer is paid or is it?

I thank the Iraqi Govt on behalf of Aussies for their reasonable approach for our Aussie farmers. Congratulations on your intelligent decision making. I wonder if we would have been so reasonable if the shoe had been on the other foot?

Shouldn't everyone in the chain from the AWB up to the PM be held accountable for this problem? Many traditional Liberal & National voters are quick to bring up Gough and Keating ... and the voters did hold them accountable - they voted Keating out and didn't re-elect Gough! Do they now have the same strength of conviction to hold this Govt accountable or is accountability only applicable to the Labor side?

Is poor Johnny appearing to look a little bit flustered lately?.... Is he asking himself "How can this happen to me... I am Australia's greatest PM"?

The lesson here is a simple one and it applies to both Liberal and Labor equally - never give a Govt a third term... it is a proven method of achieving mediocrity and worse!