Farmers must not give in to bullies whether it’s China or ATV makers

Australians must not kowtow to overseas threats, as we move to protect our freedom of speech and the safety of our people, says The Weekly Times.

SINCE when do Australians give in to bullies’ threats?

We’re not giving in to threats from an increasingly dictatorial Chinese regime as it goes about expanding its empire, even if it comes at great cost to farmers in the form of trade bans and unjustified tariffs.

Of course there are some Australians who would like us to kowtow to the communist regime, apologise for criticising Xi Jinping’s dictatorship and pull our heads in.

But such kowtowing is an insult to the sacrifice of our forefathers and mothers, who gave their lives or lost a son, father or brother in conflicts that were all about standing up to global bullies.

So why then, is a small group of Queensland and now Victorian farmers bowing to the demands of US and Japanese quad bike manufacturers?

Scott Mackay survived an ATV crash, because he had rollover protection. Picture: Zoe Phillips

It may seem a minor issue, but first Queensland’s AgForce farmer lobby and now the Victorian Farmers Federation have withdrawn their support for new laws that force manufacturers to install operator protection devices to all new quad bikes.

Why? Because Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Can Am have threatened to pull out of the Australian market next year, rather than comply with the new laws that come into effect in October.

The threat of losing access to these quad bike brands led AgForce members to call for the new law to be withdrawn.

Meanwhile, the VFF has dumped its policy of demanding manufacturers fit OPDs, calling instead for farmers to be responsible for buying and bolting on the devices.

The manufacturers must be delighted their threats have led to the division they need to help conquer the new laws.

Have these state farmer lobbies failed to learn the age-old lesson that giving into bullies only emboldens them?