BUNDELLA farmer Fiona Simson has successfully challenged incumbent NSW Farmers President, Charles Armstrong, for the top post at the state’s peak primary producers organisation.
Mr Armstrong was half-way through his four-year term when Mrs Simson, vice-president and chair of NSW Farmers committees including mining and sustainability, opted to challenge, saying that re-invigoration was needed.
Ms Simson becomes the first female to lead the NSW Farmers Association, scoring a resounding victory of 232 votes to 147.
“I feel incredibly humbled yet very, very proud to have been given your support,” Mrs Simson told members at the NSW Farmers annual conference at Sydney’s Olympic Park today.
“I will not take this job lightly, I thought a lot about it before I decided on this, and I would like to pay tribute to Charlie Armstrong, who has conducted himself in an exemplary, gentlemanly and very professional way throughout this period,” she added.
In her five-minute address before the election, Mrs Simson said she had a comprehensive plan to take the organisation forward.
“Now is the time for action - we have a multitude of big issues affecting every farmer right now – carbon tax, the water debate, mining and coal seam gas policy and land use conflict, biosecurity concerns,” Mrs Simson said.
“It is critical that we are in the room, and that we are in there early when the debates are had, and before decisions are made - we need to be seen and we need to be heard.
“We may now have a more sympathetic ear in government, but we need to be ensuring the right messages are heard.
“There are three things we are currently not doing terribly well that are essential to our core aims ... these things are inclusiveness, renewal and excellence.
“Farmer numbers are dwindling across the state; there are less and less of us, so we need to actively seek members from right across the state,” she said, saying broad membership was essential if NSW Farmers wanted to be taken seriously by government and the community.
“We need to re-invigorate the grass roots, we need to we need to empower local representatives to act on local issues,” she urged.
“Renewal is about taking the best of the past with plans for the future to reinvigorate and rebuild, get people excited about the association again.”
Ms Simson, a 47-year-old farmer from Premer, near Quirindi, has been in the thick of the bitter battle between farmers and miners.
She farms with her husband, Ed, and his family on their 5500 hectare property in the Liverpool Plains where prime agricultural land is coming increasingly under threat from new coal mines.
Mr Armstrong is a farmer from Nyngan, in western NSW, and a former long-serving treasurer of the association
Addressing the conference before the election, Mr Armstrong warned that “without unity we have no credibility”.
He outlined his substantial background in agri-politics and acknowledged member concerns about “membership growth, communication, reconnecting with consumers”.
“I am well aware of these concerns as they are also my concerns,” Mr Armstrong said.
He pointed to efforts to strengthen the Young Farmers organisation and said he would like to see a constitutional change to allow a Young Farmer position on the board.
“An uninformed but influential urban population is dangerous for the future of agriculture and the ‘Growing the Best’ campaign that (NSW Farmers chief executive) Matt Brand has introduced will drive home the importance of a sustainable, clean, and secure food supply,” Mr Armstrong said.
“Lobbying is our core business and we have been successful on a number of fronts through concerted lobbying: the $18m locust campaign, flexibility on loading wool bales, withdrawal of the Murray Darling Basin Guide, and the state government commitment to the strategic regional land use policy developed by the mining taskforce,” he said.
“Attending meetings at Moree two weeks ago highlighted the enormous anxiety around coal seam gas mining - our ability to farm, our water supply and food security are at huge risk,” Mr Armstrong warned.
“The biggest concern for our farming future for the next 12 months will be the probable introduction of carbon tax. We will also face considerable pressure on animal welfare issues, and plant genetics.”
He said all organisations were struggling to maintain members and the internet had forever altered traditional ways of communicating, decreasing the importance of local branches as a social hub.
But Mr Armstrong said NSW Farmers managed to attract 849 new members last year.
He outlined a plan to trial additional regional conferences with support of head office staff.
Ms Simson's win was mounted on the back of a strong campaign based on making the association more relevant and appealing to members and having it respond rapidly as policy issues unfolded.
Before this week's conference two senior members, treasurer, Peter Comensoli, and board member, Peter Carter, had stated their intention to not seek to renew their opositions if Ms Simson did not win.
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