NSW, SA border restrictions threaten agriculture and livelihoods

Border town resident Maddi Redding has written an emotional Facebook post about the impact border restrictions are having on her family and the farming community. See what she had to say.

Politicians need to show commonsense on border restrictions to allow farmers to continue to feed the nation, as well as earn a living, border residents say. Picture: File

AND so the town and country divide continues. Made more evident from the current governing bodies and their response to COVID-19.

My fiance, Hamish, is a contract harvester. Most people on my Facebook friend list would know what this is, however the four people he has spoken to at the NSW Government had no idea and therefore deemed him non-essential.

Now let me paint those people with no clue a picture. Did you eat breakfast today? Maybe, Weet-Bix, toast or even some pancakes? What do you have for lunch? Carrots and hummus? A nice healthy chickpea salad? Or a ham and cheese sambo with lashes of margarine? Maybe wash that down with a beer?

Wheat, chickpeas, canola and barley, all of these crops need to be harvested to be able to give you the products listed above.

They are just the crops Hamish will harvest (commonsense prevailing) this season.

Hamish has been in constant contact for months now just to see where he stands with the ever changing regulations. He has spoken to four people from the NSW Government this morning, three of which, did not know what a header was (the machine that he uses to strip said crops) and did not care to investigate further.

The last person he spoke to said there were harvest contractors in NSW so his services again, are non-essential.

Now, anyone who has bothered to think outside of metropolitan areas will know there has been a drought this past decade, mainly affecting NSW and Queensland.

There once were many harvest contractors in more prosperous times, however as times got tough they had to sell their machines and businesses, hence the reason men and women from Victoria have been leaving their families for months on end to do a job.

A job that feeds Australia. A job that can easily, and probably normally would keep people socially-distanced anyway.

The drivers of both headers and chaser bins sit in the cab from dawn ’til well into the next morning.

The farmers work alone moving the field bins and organise logistics, the truckies come in, roll the tarp down, fill up and drive that well-travelled road back to the silos.

The wives deliver food when they can. There is rarely a reason for anyone involved in a harvesting operation to sit next to, touch or even talk to anyone else.

It would also be remiss of me to make out I am angry for the greater good of our country.

I am angry because this is our main source of income. Hamish has a brilliant reputation for the job he does, however there is just not enough work locally to keep us afloat.

And being so close to the border our ‘local’ work is also in South Australia, which we will also have trouble gaining access.

Yes, I work, however being a theatre nurse pays in minimal dollars and maximal job satisfaction.

So I am worried for the financial future of our young family, which so easily could be avoided. I understand why some rules are in place, believe me I do, however I am sick of uneducated people making decisions on our behalf.

Come and ask us what we do, come and see a day of harvesting and you will see this is in fact essential and it can easily adhere to COVID-19 rules.

I am not only worried for the mental and financial health of my fiance but everyone involved in the agriculture industry during these trying times.

Up until now I had faith in our leaders, however with the new SA/Victorian border rules and the current problem we find ourselves in, faith has all but evaporated.

It is not only us effected, what about the farmers, truck drivers, Viterra/GrainCorp employees, seed cleaners, and many more?

I cannot for the life of me figure out why the government who are so ill-informed when it comes to agriculture, think they can make rulings that are one size fits all when it clearly doesn’t. For what is largely (however not all) a metropolitan problem, regional people are paying the price. I am pleading with those in power to see reason.

Please let us feed Australia, moreover, our families. We are doing the right thing, being socially distanced, limiting our movement where possible and wearing masks. Now it’s your turn to do the right thing by us.

Maddi Redding lives in Apsley, Victoria, about 7km from the South Australin border.

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