Jock comes to Gugong to meet his sceptical flock

Jock Laurie, hard-talking hard-travelling President of NSW Farmers came to Gulgong and the Coalition cornered him to update him. Jock told the audience of 40 that the new Commonwealth Government presents farmers with a great opportunity to build better relations with the ALP. He described the new Minister For Agriculture Tony Burke in positive terms: "He has a good work ethic. He wants to succeed in this portfolio. He admits he has no background in agriculture, but he is obviously keen to listen and learn." Mr Laurie said the big issues facing farmers in the State remain the effects of drought, the election of a new Government, the public image of farming and Climate Change. He said the Association is pushing for a seat at the table. "We don't want to be left out of the discussions and told afterwards what we have to do," he said. "Agriculture has an opportunity to not only play a part in the issue, but farmers could find themselves leading the way to make a major impact on the problem at a global level."

Michael Kiely, NSWFarmers' member and Convenor of the Carbon Coalition, endorsed Jock Laurie's strong stand on Climate Change. "Jock was one of the first industry leaders to grasp the meaning of carbon sequestration for farmers and see the opportunity for them. He listened to us when a lot of people scratched their heads. Now he is on the front foot and is leading the charge, even though many of his members are climate sceptics.

"His view, and ours, is that you don't have to believe that Global Warming is man-made, but the majority of people and all the governments of the world do. You have the right to your opinion, but democracy isn't about acting on everyone's opinion. The majority rules. If 2500 climate scientists are wrong, then the world will have wasted a lot of money and time. But if the sceptics are wrong and we follow their advice and do nothing, we'll lose a lot more than money and time."