Trevor Whittington, CEO WAFarmers

Here’s an idea for you: Australia has around 15 million taxpayers, but only 50 per cent are net contributors, meaning they actually pay more than they receive back in rebates and deductions ... Now, with the government forecasting a surplus ... wouldn't it be nice if those of us contributing more than our fair share had a say in how that surplus is spent—or, dare I say, saved?

As bracket creep pushes more and more people into the top tax rate ... it is only a matter of time before Australians who are mobile enough decide they don’t want to pour an ever-greater part of their annual income into funding Albanese's political priorities. For those who can pick up and leave the country to escape our high tax rates I thought I would give you a quick world tour of where you can park yourself ...

Well, he’s back. This time, he’s not just set on “Making America Great Again,” but is doubling down with a pledge to “Make Our (American) Farmers Great Again.” But how, exactly, does he plan to pull this off? And should Aussie farmers brace for impact? A glance at Trump’s past as President, alongside his promises for the next four years, paints a picture that’s hard to ignore.

A single bus route in a small community might seem trivial to the Cook Labor government, but for the families who depend on it, it’s far more than just transport. It’s a lifeline that keeps communities viable, allowing families to live and work on the land while ensuring their kids can attend school without spending hours commuting each day ... This decision underscores the growing divide in our state ...

Honestly, I’m stumped, and I say this as someone who once worked for a Minister for Agriculture and “Food.” In all my years in government, I don’t recall anyone requesting a sit-down with the Minister for Food ... If a food giant like Kraft Heinz or Mars Wrigley came sniffing around WA, do you think they’d trawl through the yellow pages for the Minister for Food?

Every generation has its automotive obsession, and for farmers, it often revolves around a ute. Farmers can almost be defined by the aspirational utes they dreamed about owning in high school—often working long hours to pay for their first one, then adding custom touches to make it their pride and joy.

I’ve already outlined Canberra, our very own isolated political bubble in the bush, but make no mistake—there’s a whole global club of purpose-built capitals that decided to swap sense for seclusion. These cities, built from scratch, aimed to be the shining beacons of national pride, but somehow all have ended up as bubbles of bureaucrats, completely detached from the real world.

Canberra is a very strange place. The nation's purpose-built capital has been the subject of debate and controversy since its conception ... Where are the alternative voices? ... Politicians are only hearing one side, largely because no one’s challenging the narrative. Even our peak agricultural bodies have been sucked into the progressive undertow ...

If the various State and Federal Ministers for Agriculture really want to make a statement that offers opportunities for Aboriginal people, then start with the existing 40 million hectares of the Indigenous-owned estate and unshackle them from the dead hand of government bureaucracy and red and green tape. But such a move would give the few Indigenous Australians who live on these properties real self-determination, the right to own their own land outright, access to capital and the right to get rich or go broke ...

Long, long ago, in the early 1980s, a group of Western Australian farmers decided they had had enough of the growing spread in tractor prices between what was on offer at their local dealer and what American farmers were paying. So, they decided to bypass the local dealer network and order directly from the land of the free, thereby proving that middlemen exist only if you allow them.