Australian farmers 'ignored' in election campaign

Australia's farmers say they have been ignored in the election campaign. Even the National party, traditionally the staunch defenders of the bush, has been quiet on agriculture.

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The National Farmers Federation has warned leaders they risk alienating primary producers because of the lack of policy, and released a score card rating the policies of the major parties across five key areas.

The Greens managed only 7 out of a possible 25. Labor didn’t score much better with 8. In a sharp blow to the Coalition, the NFF ranked it below Labor with just 7.5.

Fiona Simson from the NSW Farmers Association says this is particularly surprising from the Coalition, who is usually considered the farmers' party. 

“I think farmers are very surprised that politicians are so afraid of the F-word - farmers. There's very little mention of agriculture or our industry.”

There are more than 300,000 people employed in the agriculture industry across Australia.

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By Sam Ikin

Source: SBS


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