Farmers favour kangaroo over new wattle nation brand

Australia’s new wattle-inspired logo for its national brand has received negative reviews from agriculture industry leaders. See why and have your say by voting in our poll.

Familiar face: Many say the new design for Brand Australia resembles a coronavirus cell.

DON’T expect to see Australia’s new wattle-inspired logo on any Aussie produce in a hurry, with the abstract design leaving many farmers scratching their heads.

The gold flourish – which arguably bears an unfortunate resemblance to a coronavirus cell – has received a thumbs down from ag industry leaders, who predict the good old green and gold kangaroo with remain in favour.

“It would be equivalent to Coca-Cola throwing away the red Coke can – why would you do it?,” Victorian Farmers Federation livestock president Leonard Vallance said.

“You travel around and everyone knows what it (the kangaroo) is and where it comes from.”

The Federal Government has been fending off criticism after the new branding was revealed yesterday.

Two years in the making, the $10 million project was intended to develop a single national brand – which could be used on all exports, from agriculture to tourism and services – similar to New Zealand’s ‘100% Pure’ campaign.

Preferred design: Farmers are keen on keeping the trustworthy kangaroo as the Australian Made logo.

The concept of a ‘Brand Australia’ has long been championed by the agriculture industry, which has argued a united brand was needed to market Australia’s ‘clean, green’ image overseas.

But the new logo has had a less than enthusiastic response so far, prompting Trade Minister Simon Birmingham to stress it was not replacing the ‘Australian Made’ kangaroo but could be used alongside it.

The Nation Brand Advisory Panel – which included mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and Vogue Australia editor-in-chief Edwina McCann – acknowledged the kangaroo was “currently the most internationally recognised shortcut to Australia”, but recommended against using it as a national symbol as multiple versions of that logo already existed.

Mr Vallance said it showed how disconnected Canberra was from the rest of Australia.

“If they (the Government) spent $10 million on biosecurity or improving a freight line somewhere, we’d be better off,” he said.

“Producers won’t be giving up their brands … they won’t be putting a wattle on a wool bale anytime soon.”

National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson believed there were many brands already – such as ‘Australian Made’ or Meat and Livestock Australia’s ‘True Aussie’ tag – that people would continue to use.

“It does seem like an extraordinary amount of money to have spent on a trademark that most farmers think is not necessarily identifiable or meaningful,” she said.

“When you look at the success of Australian Made, Australian Grown or True Aussie, people will be reluctant to move away from those particular trademarks.”

Ms Simson – who is also on the ‘Australian Made, Australian Grown’ board – hoped people would however unite to back the principle of a united brand.

Mr Birmingham said the new logo was there to give consistency to marketing Australia internationally.

“One of the common refrains of criticism we’ve had over the years (is) that each of our states go out and present themselves in an entirely different way,” he said.

“We do want them to try to present Australia in a more consistent light while still promoting themselves.”

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