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Long Thread 1/ I just got round to reading the superb essay ‘Losing the Farm’ by @gabriellechan in the Summer 2019 edition of @Meanjin published by @Greenj. Like “Rusted Off”, it is an excellent survey of the political/enviro conditions in the MD Basin. https://meanjin.com.au/past-editions/
2/ Refreshingly, @gabriellechan mostly avoids the Basin Plan debacle and brings a timely return to a focus on land ownership/management, which Ms Chan importantly sees as part of a final eradication of mid-sized farms and a return, full circle, to squattocracy (corporate style)
3/ Most impressively @gabriellechan reasserts subsidies (foreign and domestic) and the environment as overridingly important and linked aspects in the future of the Basin. It is on these crucial issues I wish to provide a brief critique of the essay’s analysis
4/ Subsidies – Ms Chan supports the conventional wisdom that the regions are pretty heavily subsidised (below) but, if I understand correctly, believes the alternative of squattocracy is worse
5/ However, I think the essay would have been balanced by the inclusion of figures such as these https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/12/sydney-fire-parasite-economy/
6/ Or maybe if these figures from an April 2020 AgriFutures report (a much more interesting and revelatory read than anything provided by Keelty or Sefton) had been available, the question of who subsidises who would be more vexed
7/ Environment – Unlike rural political figures @gabriellechan wisely ties the environment to subsidies and points to the practice in other countries, but does so with some reservations
8/ Rural political figures should heed Ms Chan’s advice but not her timidity. They should ‘lean in’ and adopt environmental subsidies as a cornerstone of their political platforms.
9/The political tide of the 21st century is shifting heavily to the environment. Capital will flood into environmental protection. The only question is... who gets paid.
10/ Without coordinated political action for massive environmental subsidies they will be picked off by squattercrats and money will be diverted away from the very small towns which Ms Chan wishes to preserve.
11/ The Craik Review prepares the way for this. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/27/government-urged-to-set-up-1bn-fund-to-help-farmers-protect-the-environment
12/ As with ‘Rusted Off’, there emerges an element of paternalism in the essay; that ultimately the rough men of the bush aren’t quite to be trusted with either subsidies or the environment. I feel this slightly limits the essay’s political vision.
13/ As an aside, there was little analysis of the cash flow/ balance sheet predicament across the farming sector, but that is an unfair quibble, it would require a whole other essay!
14/ If @gabriellechan does read this thread, I hope it is understood that any criticisms are far outweighed by the rare insight and perception provided in the essay. Anyone who wishes to understand our current predicament should read it in full
15/ Indeed, it is a travesty that it is published only in @Meanjin rather than in the local rags across the Basin, so it could be read by those who would benefit from it most. I ordered it online /Fin
