The question raises the most ire in country areas where the full effects of the so-called deregulation of the market have had the most drastic consequences. Farmers in the Weddin Shire were some of the first to feel the bite of the Australia/North America free trade agreement as ratified during the life of the Howard government in the late nineties.

At the time of the signing of the agreement there were some 24 piggeries in the shire but within 12 months of the new agreement there was one and today there are none. All this has resulted mainly from cheap Canadian pork being imported by the supermarkets.

However, this has only been the first step down in what has become a rapid descent. Local farmers now find themselves exposed to world trade policies dictated by Canberra regardless of the trickle down effect on those who are least able to rectify the situation. In short, the local farmers are no longer masters of their own destiny. Canberra can and does initiate agreements with overseas interests regarding key agricultural pursuits such as beef, dairy and agricultural products such as grain, vegetables and fruit. These policies are pursued regardless of what effect the free trade deals may have on the local producers at the local level.

No doubt the subject is complicated and not easily understood. It is not until the supermarket agents arrive at the farmgate with price offers that don’t even cover the cost of production or simply refuse to buy any of the local product at all, that the implications of what free trade really means hits home. By then the birdy has flown the coup and the relevant legislation invoked.

The major problems facing rural communities such as those in the Weddin Shire have now, however, moved on to a whole new level.

Not content with squeezing the lemon at the top end by procuring  produce at less than cost, the dynamic has moved on to the level where the actual land is now the target of the free traders and their global economic corporate partners from overseas.

This is now the real threat to all rural communities and may yet see an irreversible decline in Australia’s rural population. A recent report on the front page of the Sydney morning Herald highlighted just what is happening beneath the rhetoric invoked by the global traders. Two Stockinbingal farmers spoke of how multinational US, Canadian, Arabic and Swiss interests are purchasing multiple properties in the district. They also said they believe the situation has now reached a critical point for the locals with the proposed purchase of GrainCorp by American giant Archer Daniels Middleton.

It appears that the Nationals oppose the sale but the decision will still be made by the new Conservative government in Canberra.

However, on the positive side, the new administration is toying with the idea of introducing a national register of foreign owned farmland that will make it compulsory for any deal over $15million subject to approval by the federal government. 

Another proposed scheme recently floated by large Indonesian concerns regarding a purchase of over 2 million acres to grow beef for their home market has raised alarm bells in rural circles. Questions regarding Australia’s national sovereignty and the tax regime that would see the new owners paying little or no tax on the enterprise under present Australian tax laws.

However, the end result and the effect on local communities is a lot simpler to ascertain. The true magnitude of what happens on the ground can be ascertained by what has happened to the village areas in the Weddin Shire.

Foreign agricultural corporations have been paying hugely inflated prices for properties as they come up for sale, thus preventing locals from increasing their landholding in order to compete.

The end result of this is less  families in the district, old beautiful homesteads falling into rack and ruin through neglect, fences not being maintained and schools being threatened with closure due to the drastic fall in numbers of school age children. It also trickles down to larger towns such as Grenfell when money begins to evaporate due to this process.

If all this sounds improbable, one only needs to talk to the remaining families from Quandialla and the Pinnacle region of the shire.