The great Australian rural city divide

What cultural roots and what traditional relationship with the land is Mr Anderson talking about? We are a people of metropolitan centres and rural cities and towns. It is understandable those in smaller rural centres feel affinity with the land, especially if they have a livelihood linked to agriculture. But for most Australians whatever empathy they feel for the bush is probably largely a hangover from the early days of Australian nationalism, as popularised by the likes of Henry Lawson.

Certainly, there is sympathy for farmers suffering drought and distress, as the generosity of city people in making donations to various appeals has shown, but the same sentiment was evident following the Indian Ocean tsunami of late-2004. Maybe it is because he is an ex-politician that John Anderson can stand up and make such allusions to popular mythology in the most urbanised country in the world, a country that has been urbanised since first settlement by Europeans and is increasingly so today, as the research of demographer Bernard Salt (in his book, The Big Shift) and the 2001 Census shows.

Better approach will win support

A more sophisticated approach is what the NFF needs to take in its proposed education campaign. Wedge politics, based on vague allusions that stereotype environmentalists, is not what Australia needs because there is no basic disjunction between environmentalism and good farming practice. If the NFF is serious about garnering urban sympathy, then it will do better to focus on the real contribution that agriculture makes to our culture.

As a starting point, the NFF could point out the economic benefits. That's not hard. Employment is harder as it is in decline. Then there are the innovative farmers who are trying to do something positive rather than whinge about city people not understanding them - farmers in Western Australia, for instance, or the organic farmers opening new, lucrative markets with great export potential. The NFF might also promote discussion about saving the productive agricultural lands of Sydney's urban-rural fringe, given their importance to the state's fresh food supply and the supply of local foods to Sydney. They can raise, too, the issue of how Australian farmers are dealing with economic globalisation and its flood of cheap food imports. They could even promote a "Buy Australian" campaign to boost the prospects of farmers.

These are the topics that will endear the country's farmers to city people. Let's throw out the antagonism and conflict with the stereotypes and get down to the reality of recognising our mutual dependency.