Opinion Articles

Buried Alive by the Pastoral Award

The Pastoral Award helpfully tells farmers that: “The average ordinary working hours for a farm and livestock hand will be fixed by agreement … but will not exceed an average of 38 hours per week over a 4-week period,” and then repeats the same rule in a different way: “The ordinary hours of work … will not exceed 152 hours in any consecutive period of 4 weeks.” The University Award contains its own classics, including

Trevor Whittington November 27, 2025

General News

WAFarmers Dairy President Ian Noakes elected to ADF Board

WAFarmers congratulates our Dairy Section President, Ian Noakes, for his election to the Board of Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF). See ADF media statement below: ADF welcomes new board director Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) held its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, which included the announcement of election results for one vacant Board Director position. The position was contested by two candidates, Western Australian dairy farmer Ian Noakes and Gippsland dairy farmer Paul Mumford. Mr Noakes was

Darren Brown November 26, 2025

Submissions

Advocacy success: Government abandons push to lower country speed limits

A quietly posted “Communique for Infrastructure and Transport Ministers’ Meeting” confirmed a win for common sense – and the value of advocacy from WAFarmers and the other individuals and groups that made a submission opposing the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts’ proposal to reduce open road default speed limits. The very last item on the 8 issue meeting report simply said: National Road Safety Strategy – Default Speed Limits

Darren Brown November 25, 2025

Correspondence

Letter to Minister Reece Whitby offering support for Firearms report recommendations

WAFarmers President Steve McGuire today sent the following letter to the Minister for Police, Hon Reece Whitby MLA. Hon Reece Whitby MLA Minister for Police By email: [email protected] Dear Minister, RE: IMPLEMENTATION OF IMMEDIATE ADMINISTRATIVE IMPROVEMENTS UNDER THE FIREARMS ACT 2024 AND ASSOCIATED REGULATIONS I write following the release of the Standing Committee on Legislation Report No. 51 – Firearms Act 2024 with the support of the WA Firearms Community Alliance. The Committee’s report provides

Darren Brown November 25, 2025

Media Releases

WAFarmers backs mandated pain relief for mulesing as flystrike threat remains front and centre

WAFarmers has welcomed the Minister for Agriculture’s confirmation in Parliament that Western Australia will mandate the use of pain relief for mulesing under the nationally agreed Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for sheep, noting the move is squarely in line with existing WAFarmers policy. WAFarmers Livestock Council supports that effective pain relief should be mandatory for mulesing and has consistently supported continued research into practical alternatives to surgical mulesing. Geoff Pearson, President of the

Darren Brown November 20, 2025

Opinion Articles

How the Net-Zero dream mugged agriculture

There’s a rule in politics as old as the wheatbelt: never sign anything you wouldn’t be willing to enforce yourself. Unfortunately, the Australian agricultural sector didn’t get the memo. A decade ago, farm lobby groups, industry councils, commodity groups and agribusiness roundtables lined up like schoolkids at assembly to clap along to the great net-zero revival meeting. Many signed a pledge, waved the flag, posed for the photo and strutted back to the paddock believing they’d

Trevor Whittington November 20, 2025

Opinion Articles

When Canberra grabbed the Timeclock

After a decade of Labor “modernisation,” the federal wage system now comes with a hidden tripwire buried deep in the fine print — and it’s farmers who keep stepping on it Under the Pastoral Award 2020, a harvester driver on a base machine operators’ rate of $32.90 an hour can suddenly cost you $48.50 once the 152-hour overtime cliff kicks in. That’s not rational economics; it’s central planning with double penalty rates. The story of

Trevor Whittington November 20, 2025

General News

Gingin Shire Councillor moves to ban the use of Glyphosate

Shire of Gingin Councillor Lincoln Stewart recently sought to move a motion with the intent of “phasing out and banning [the use] of glyphosate in the Shire of Gingin.” Cr Stewart’s proposed motion included: “That Council:… 3. Recognizes its duty of care to protect the community, environment, and future generations from foreseeable harm, and to reduce the Shire’s exposure to liability associated with the ongoing use of hazardous chemicals. 4. Resolves to: a. Phase out

Darren Brown November 19, 2025

Research and Reports

Auditor General report finds serious issues in Maintaining Regional Local Roads

Western Australia’s Auditor General has tabled the Maintaining Regional Local Roads report in Parliament which highlighted a number of problematic issues including: The condition of Western Australia’s Local Government (LG) road network is largely unknown because it is neither measured nor consistently reported. This lack of data undermines maintenance planning, prevents accurate assessment of maintenance effectiveness, and obscures the true scale and cost of the maintenance backlog. The inconsistency of asset management across LGs increases

Darren Brown November 13, 2025

Opinion Articles

Can Captain Jarvis Navigate Without a Polling Compass?

I’ve stood on the bridge of the Fisheries portfolio before, watching the charts, reading the soundings, and warning the captain that reefs lay ahead. As a former Chief of Staff to a Fisheries Minister, I recognise the signs when a government vessel starts taking on water and the crew pretend it’s just spray over the bow. WA is again steering toward the same rocks: science shouting from the crow’s nest, lobby groups whispering on the

Trevor Whittington November 13, 2025