Australian musical talent rallies behind John Farnham to stage massive drought relief concert
MUSIC legend John Farnham will lead a line-up of top Aussie talent helping to bail out drought-stricken farmers, headlining a huge charity concert.
NSW
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MUSIC legend John Farnham will lead a line-up of top Aussie talent helping to bail out drought-stricken farmers, headlining a huge charity concert.
Hay Mate: Buy a Bale — A Concert For The Farmers will take place at Scully Park in Tamworth on October 27 and is tipped to include a host of stars including country music performer Adam Harvey and singer Guy Sebastian.
Farnham’s manager Glenn Wheatley is organising the concert, which is supported by The Sunday Telegraph.
Negotiations are under way to show the event live on TV and viewers will be able to phone in donations as it goes to air.
All money will go to Rural Aid, which provides support to farmers hit by drought.
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The concert will take place four months after The Sunday Telegraph began its Bone Dry drought campaign highlighting the plight of rural areas.
“We haven’t got the full bill locked in but Wheatley is working around the clock to pull this together,” Farnham said.
“It’s fairly short notice for most of us, but it will be a great event. Everyone’s come on board. Glenn asked for the venue for mates rates and they said, ‘How about we just give you the keys?’
“Everyone is up for doing this. I want to make some kind of difference.
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“Australia’s population is 25 million now. If we could get a dollar from everyone we could really make a hole in this.”
The entire state is in drought, with some of NSW receiving less than 20mm of rain this year and large areas of prime farming land suffering through the driest 18 months since records began in 1900.
The Sunday Telegraph last week joined Vinnies to launch a drought appeal to help hard hit farmers pay overdue bills and buy groceries, as well as to hold social functions to deal with increasing isolation.
Farnham, who spends a lot of time on his rural properties, said: “Farmers are the backbone of this country. I understand what the farmers are going through. I have horses and cattle to feed.
“Fortunately for me it’s not too much of a problem but I know a lot of farmers and they are doing it tough.
“They do it tough anyway but particularly at the moment. They are seeing their livelihood dying.
“It’s just a shame we all didn’t do something sooner. But we are acting now.
“It goes without saying I’ve been cuddled by Australia for a long time and it’s nice to give them a cuddle back.
“My message is if you can support, please do.”
Full details of Hay Mate will be released in coming week.