The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n industry association that represents Australian farmers at a national level, including through lobbying

Lobbying

Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...

 the Australian Government. NFF's members are the state-level farmers' organisations, national commodity councils, and other affiliated members.

According to the NFF charter, state-level farmers' organisations represent the interests of the agricultural sector in their respective states while issues related to individual commodities or interstate/national farming concerns are represented by relevant national commodity councils. The NFF council comprises delegates from each state and territory representing primary producers on the commodity councils of their respective industry.

Jock Laurie, a grazier from Walcha in the New England region of NSW, has been president of the organisation since late 2010, replacing former president, David Crombie of Queensland.

The current CEO of the National Farmers' Federation is Matt Linnegar, replacing former CEO Ben Fargher who stepped down from the position in January 2011.

History

The Federation was created in 1979

1979 in Australia

-Incumbents:*Queen of Australia – Elizabeth II*Prime Minister – Malcolm Fraser*Governor General – Zelman Cowen*Premier of New South Wales – Neville Wran*Premier of South Australia – Don Dunstan, Des Cocoran*Premier of Queensland – Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen...

. The organisation was incorporated in July 2001.

NFF has been involved in a number of major policy debates in Australia, including the tariff

Tariff

A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....

 reform debate and the tax reform

Tax reform

Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government.Tax reformers have different goals. Some seek to reduce the level of taxation of all people by the government. Some seek to make the tax system more progressive or less progressive. Some seek to simplify...

 debate.
NFF was a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, including:

• the "Wide comb dispute
  Wide comb dispute 1979-1985
  The wide comb dispute was a landmark Australian industrial dispute. Australian sheep shearers, represented by the Australian Workers Union, opposed the alteration of the Federal Pastoral Industry Award to allow the use of shearing equipment that used combs wider than 2.5 inches...
  
  "
• the Mudginberri
  Mudginberri
  The Mudginberri abattoir was the focus of a major industrial relations dispute from 1983 to 1985 in Australia's Northern Territory which was notable for being the first successful use of legal sanctions against a union since the gaoling of Victorian Tramways union leader Clarrie O'Shea in 1969...
  
   abattoir dispute in 1984-85
• the Waterfront Dispute
  1998 Australian waterfront dispute
  The Australian waterfront dispute of 1998 was a watershed event in Australian Industrial Relations history, in which the Patrick Corporation undertook a restructuring of their operations for the purpose of increasing the productivity of their workforce...
  
   in 1998

Rick Farley

Rick Farley

Richard Andrew Farley was a white Australian activist for the rights of Indigenous Australians.Born in Townsville, Queensland, Farley had a career which went from actor and hippie to journalist, Whitlam government staffer, head of the Cattlemen's Union and then to his most celebrated role, with...

, was NFF's Chief Executive for eight years.

External links

• National Farmers' Federation website