The last straw: Family gets out of farming after activist attacks

An Australian farming family, pleading for law changes, has exited farming after being left “psychologically damaged” from animal activist invasions and threats.

A farmer who has sold his property after living in fear from activist attacks has pleaded for a “consequence to this invasive behaviour” asking governments to “change the law”. Picture: Generic

EXCLUSIVE: A VICTORIAN family has sold their property and exited farming after being left “psychologically damaged” from animal activist invasions and threats.

The free-range poultry farmer, who chose not to be named to protect the farm’s new owners, said his family “lost the love of farming” and lived in fear after two invasions last year saw significant property damage and the “horrifying” deaths of about 300 chickens from smothering.

“It’s terribly confronting,” he told The Weekly Times.

“They had hoodies on and we couldn’t see their faces,” he said of the 70 activists who broke into his sheds at night.

“We didn’t know if they had baseball bats, knives or guns. They looked and presented like terrorists. They were verbally very aggressive and quite open about not caring about breaking the law.”

The farmer said during the first break in, he wasn’t actually woken up by the activists but from the police knocking on his door.

“When I saw two police at the door, first thing I thought is, has something happened to one of our kids?” he said.

“They said a break and enter had been reported. (The activists) were waiting for us to get up in the morning to come down to the sheds, but got sick of waiting so called police.”

One of the activism groups involved and its founder receive monthly donations from the public via an online site to fund animal “rescues”.

The farmer said the break-ins had an “ongoing effect” particularly because they “said they would be back” and they were.

The family were already dealing with health issues and the invasions were the final straw.

“Over the next months we lost our love of farming, lost our lifestyle,” the farmer said.

“The effect on my wife was getting worse and worse, and so we said to ourselves we have to leave.”

He has pleaded for a “consequence to this invasive behaviour” asking governments to “change the law”.

“Everyone has right to protest and there are ways in which you can protest without doing it this way,” he said.

“Graffiti spraying ‘baby killers’ on our sheds is not a protest, it is wilful damage that is untrue and insulting to what we do as farmers.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie told The Weekly Times she was “devastated” on hearing the news.

“This is the human impact,” she said. “Sometimes we can get swept up in the theoretical conversation … the reality is Australian farmers and their families are being harassed and intimidated out of their own businesses.

“This is the end result of extremist behaviour, that families are actually having their mental health impacted (and) their economic health impacted.

“It isn’t about whether you’re vegan or not, it’s about whether you respect somebody’s right to farm and at the end of the day you don’t have to eat the product, you don’t have to buy the product, but you have to respect (farmers’) right to produce it.”

Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said his heart was heavy upon hearing of the family’s plight.

“If people can’t conduct business in a safe manner in Australia there is something drastically wrong,” he said.

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John Gommans, the owner of Gippy Goat Cafe, which closed this year blaming “constant harassment” by “abusive vegan activists”, said he felt “terrible for the family”.

Mr Gommans, who has been passionately advocating for harsher laws since activists stole livestock from his farm last year, said it was “satisfying to see politicians both federal and state becoming alert to the scale of the problem”.

New laws making it illegal to use a carriage service, such as the internet, to incite trespass, property damage or livestock theft, with penalties of up to 12 months and five years jail time respectively, are expected to pass the House of Representatives this week.

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Senator McKenzie called on the public “whether they’re producers or not” to make their views known to the Senate inquiry, which will form the basis of the draft federal laws set to appear in Parliament. Submissions can be made online and close in a week.

Submissions to a separate Victorian inquiry, which will make recommendations to the State Government on what laws, if any, should be changed, close on August 2.

Trespass laws are a state jurisdiction.