Transitions between formations and organisations: an historical perspective on the political representation of Australian farmers

Australian Journal of Politics and History, The, Dec, 2004 by Darren Halpin

Introduction

A flurry of amalgamations of farm interest groups in the late 1970s produced a peak interest-group structure in the National Farmers' Federation (NFF). The formation of the NFF in 1979 signalled a new phase in the political representation of primary producers. It evidenced a clear departure from a reliance on the party political system to effectively transmit the interests of farmers to the political sphere. Further, it signalled a determination by farmers to present a united position to government in order to maximise influence. The NFF is a federation of state farm organisations (SFOs) and commodity councils (CCs). At present, the NFF family (2) of interest groups is the recognised voice of Australian primary producers.

The NFF has played a central role in facilitating change in Australian agricultural policy and economic policy more generally. (3) Amidst advocating a shift towards a liberal agricultural trade policy paradigm and playing a role in achieving such a change, the NFF family always has acknowledged that this would have deleterious economic effects on segments of its constituency via processes of structural adjustment. As one may expect, the role of farm interest groups in the reform process and their relationship with the state has not been unproblematic. Falling membership levels of its state organisations and, more importantly, heightened levels of public criticism suggest a period of member discontent with the NFF family. In the absence of any significant change to the policy position and tactics of the NFF family, significant member disaffection appears to remain. Combined with budgetary concerns, this has catalysed further a debate about the capacity of existing interest groups adequately to represent farmers' interests.

The National Party may not be the dominant mode of farmer representation, but it is still an important, if declining, element in the contemporary representation of farming interests. Like the NFF, its endorsement of trade liberalism, along with its inability to differentiate its general approach from that of the Liberals, and ongoing demographic change associated with long term trends of rural restructuring, has prevented the Nationals from effectively giving voice to growing dissatisfaction. (4) As such it has suffered the electoral consequences and endured renewed speculation about the merits of amalgamation with the Liberal Party. (5)

This debate about farmer representation has been sharpened by the emergence of "alternative" formations to articulate a range of alternative positions to those of the NFF family, some complementary, others confrontational. These include discussions of a "third party" in politics, the rise of "rebel" commodity groups, and grass roots movements such as the Rural Womens' Alliance (RWA). As the then NSW member for Tamworth, Tony Windsor, commented on the mood in rural Australia:

   I think they're searching, and you can see it up this way where
   people are talking about new States and new Parties, new this, new
   that. It's an expression of frustration. They're searching. (6)

The accuracy of this analysis was underlined by the emerging fluidity in rural electoral politics and the rise of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party in the 1998 federal election. (7) Whilst the "rural backlash" did not eventuate in the course of the 2001 federal election, (8) evidence of uncertainty and fluidity remain in other spheres of rural politics.

Discussions of "new" parties, groups and local associations, draw heavily on the apparent success of these as past strategies. However, there is an absence of a systematic treatment of the history of political representation of Australian farmers to inform analysis of these debates. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the work of social scientists grappling with contemporary issues concerning farmer political representation. Further, the intention is to highlight the fact that the contemporary debate within farming and rural communities about political organisation has an historical context.

Politics in the Colony: "The Squatters Council"

Between 1823 and 1842 the colony was administered by the Governor in combination with a Legislative Council which met behind closed doors and whose proceedings were not reported by the press. (9) The Legislative Council constituted both official members (appointed by London) and unofficial members (appointed from amongst the colonists by the Governor). The Legislative. Council was dominated by "[...] the small number of free and wealthy colonists [...]" and had as its aim the "[...] wresting of control of the Colony's land from the colonial office [...]" (10) McNaughtan refers to the NSW Legislative Council as the "squatters council", reflecting the influence that squatters, as the most significant wealth producers and land-holders, had on the political process. (11)

Post-1842, the parliament was established, comprising two houses which were majority-elected and relatively autonomous. Whilst the Legislative Council took direct power from the Governor, elections only involved a minority of the colonial population. (12) The number of rural seats in early parliaments far exceeded the electoral numbers of pastoralists. (13) This, coupled with the parochialism of elected members for local issues, ensured that pastoralists' interests continued largely to prevail. The Pastoralist Association, which was founded in the mid-1840s, was instrumental in squatters exercising influence on Legislative Council members. Whilst this association was instrumental in coordinating action, citizens in the colonial era voted for "[...] local men, or a colonial notable, whose talisman was his ability to get things done for his constituency". (14)