A Victorian hay contractor plans to contest a $398 fine issued by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator

A South West Victoria farmer who was fined $398 for having an unsecured load – two square hay bales on forks on the front of his tractor – is vowing to contest the matter in court.

Kate Dowler

@kate_dowler

3 min read

June 10, 2025 - 4:59PM

The Weekly Times

A drought-hit South West Victoria farmer who was fined $398 for having an unsecured load – two square hay bales stacked on forks on the front of his tractor – is vowing to contest the matter in court.

It comes as a Facebook post about the incident from a fellow farmer has sparked a furore online and has been viewed almost 400,000 times and shared more than 500 times.

Graham Thomson is a well-known hay contractor in South West Victoria and the founding deputy chair of national industry body, the Australian Fodder Industry Association.

Mr Thomson told The Weekly Times he moved two bales of hay on his hay forks, across the road from his farm on the Henty Highway at Condah on Sunday to help out a neighbour with his “starving sheep”.

“Farmers are doing it bloody tough, it was just so over the top, I really couldn’t believe it,” he said.

“It is not about the money.”

He estimated the distance was about 600m, across the road and to the neighbouring property, before he was pulled over by a National Heavy Vehicle Regulator officer, based in Mount Gambier, South Australia.

“It was a perfect day, we had just had a mental health day for farmers at Condah and I was taking a couple of bales across for these starving sheep,” Mr Thomson said.

“The NHVR bloke just came out firing, he said it was illegal to carry anything on a front end loader, which apparently it does say that on about page 4000 of the rules.

“I have 30 days to pay (the fine) but I am going to contest it in court.

“I have had dozens of calls (of support) from people all over Australia.

“How many people are out feeding hay and trying to keep their animals alive in these conditions.

“The officer told me I should have loaded the hay with my tractor onto a ute or truck and then walked home and got the tractor, driven back, and unloaded the hay.”

Mr Thomson said the first thing the officer did was tell him he was being filmed on his chest camera, and claims the officer was very aggressive in his approach.

“People are doing it tough, but they just don’t care.”

Reflecting the widespread malcontent and frustration in the Victorian farming community – spurred by the perceived lack of real government support for the two-year drought hitting much of southern Australia, and the Victorian government’s emergency services tax – fellow farmer Andy Satchell, who shared the post about the fine, said farmers “have had a gutful”.

“I think people are just sick and tired of all the bloody government interference in everything, in general,” Mr Satchell said.

“We have had a gutful, whether it is a new taxation, the bloody fire service levy, everyone has had enough.”

Mr Satchell said he and others would be there to support Mr Thomson if he contested the fine in court.

“People are doing it tough, we just want a bit of common sense and bit of compassion; we just had a mental health day, we don’t need this stuff all the bloody time.”

A spokeswoman for the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator said road safety was “our top priority”.

“We are committed to playing our role in preventing road accidents and trauma and improving safety outcomes across the heavy vehicle industry through consistent regulation, education and enforcement,” she said.

The NHVR regulates all heavy vehicles with a gross vehicle mass or aggregate trailer mass of more than 4.5 tonnes, including livestock and agricultural vehicles.

She said NHVR officers “deliver a range of roadside education to assist industry to operate in a safe and compliant manner”.

“On June 8, (officers) intercepted a tractor carrying two double-stacked large hay bales along the Henty Highway in Condah, where one of the bales was not restrained,” she said.

“Though the NHVR is committed to its ‘inform and educate’ approach to on-road compliance, road safety is always the highest priority and enforcement action may be taken when necessary to help ensure all road users make it to their destination safely.

“On this occasion, (officers) applied both an engagement and enforcement method, by providing education to the driver regarding his registration conditions and the requirement for consent to carry a load on the highway. The driver was also issued a minor load restraint infringement for the unrestrained bale.”