Long-term focus needed for farmer safety practices

After three farmers deaths rocked his Wimmera community, NFF president David Jochinke is calling on the government to employ a long-term approach into farmer safety practices.

A long-term focus is essential to address farm safety standards and practices across Australia, National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke says.

After three farmers died in Victoria’s Wimmera region in February and March, Mr Jochinke, who also farms in the region, said a “culture change” around farm safety practices was needed and that the government “has a huge part to play” in future standards.

“We all have to look after each other, and just because you’ve done something in the past doesn’t make it safe,” he told The Australian Ag Podcast.

“What we’ve seen in some of the research done, is that a lot of farm safety grants and projects are very short-term funded.

“What we really need to drive that long-term culture change is stability in the developing and delivering of these programs. Without that longer-term commitment, it’s really going to be tough to change.

“We are calling on (the government) to give more sustained long term funding in all states across the nation.”

National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke. Picture: Martin Ollman

Mr Jochinke called out the Albanese government in his first speech as NFF president last October, criticising them for an “avalanche of bad ideas” as he launched the farm lobby’s Keep Farmers Farming campaign.

He told the podcast that, since then, the relationship between two “is definitely being tested”, but the campaign had seen the government “take a lot more notice about the willingness of agriculture to have a bit more fight in them”.

“We want to be collaborative. We want to be connected to them. But if they’re not doing what we’re asking, we’re not achieving the outcomes that we need,” Mr Jochinke said.

“We’ve made government stand up and listen (to us), but outcomes for issues have been hard going … it’s really tough to change government settings, especially when they believe they’ve got a mandate.

“There’s a lot of issues that we still have to resolve, but we’re not backing down from our position, especially when it comes to issues that are directly affecting farm productivity and the economics of farming.”

After numerous farmer uprisings across European cities in the past year, Mr Jochinke said there had been the beginning of similar protests in Australia, after four farmer protests across the Riverina in opposition to water buybacks.

“We’ve found that the Keep Farmers Farming campaign has been a lightning rod for farmers to publicly protect and publicly make their voices heard,” he said.

“Leading up to an election, we’re not going to dismiss the opportunity or ability for farmers to gather and voice their frustrations.”

The Australian Ag Podcast is sponsored by Nutrien Ag Solutions. Listen to the full interview with David Jochinke on Spotify or here.