WAFarmers president John Hassell vows to continue lobbying for the State’s best interests in new NFF role

He is now second-in-command of Australia’s biggest farm lobby group, but John Hassell has no intention of taking his hands off the wheel as president of the WAFarmers Federation. Mr Hassell was named National Farmers’ Federation vice president at the NFF’s October 25 annual general meeting, where his predecessor David Jochinke was elected to the top job. Speaking to Countryman on the day, Mr Hassell said he was not ready to take a back seat in the WA agri-politics scene, despite the added responsibilities of the new role. “Whatever role I take on, I tend to give it my bloody all, and I intend to do that just as much here,” he said. “I did think about putting my hand up for the presidency, but I made a commitment to WAFarmers that once I was elected, I would fulfil my term . . . and my loyalties definitely lie with WA for starters.” Mr Hassell, who was elected unopposed, said the NFF was already doing a “good job” of tackling Federal Government policies that were detrimental to WA farmers. Among them was Labor’s commitment to phase-out WA’s live sheep trade — a policy that has had livestock producers nationwide on tenterhooks since it was announced 18 months ago. “The fight against the live export ban has been embraced by every animal industry across the country, because they’re worried they’re going to be next,” he said. “NFF’s done a great job of putting together the policy and arguing with the Government on that, and of course, we want to continue that. “But we’ve also got to fight policies like the ESG (environmental, social and governance) conditions that bankers are pushing for, because the reality is that’s another layer of compliance we don’t need.” A sheep producer and grain grower based at Pingelly in WA’s Wheatbelt, Mr Hassell said he was keen to concentrate on “policies that put dollars in growers’ pockets”. He also wanted to player a bigger role in the fight against dud policies at the Federal level. “I just wanted to be part of actually getting in and putting the boots in,” Mr Hassell said. “I think we should be going a lot harder on (Federal Agriculture Minister) Murray Watt. He’s been very pleasant about at all, and we’ve been very pleasant back, but it’s time we started attacking.” Other Federal policies Mr Hassell took aim at included the heavy vehicle road user charge, the so-called “equal work, equal pay” Bill, the scrapping of the Agriculture Visa, and the deeply unpopular biosecurity levy set to be imposed on primary producers from next July. “It’s an extra $50 million on top (of what farmers are already paying in levies), and it’s not going into extra biosecurity, it’s just a rotten tax,” he said. “It was not announced before the budget, it was not an election promise.” Already flat out running the family farm and being the face of WAFarmers, Mr Hassell is about to step down as an independent director of WoolProducers Australia after reaching his six-year tenure limit. By relinquishing this role, and thanks to modern technology such as Zoom, he was confident he would be able to juggle the new role at the NFF. “It’s business as usual: work like hell in Canberra while I’m away, and then work like hell on the farm when I’m home,” he said. Mr Jochinke said he was looking forward to working alongside Mr Hassell. “John’s got a fair bit of grit in him; a very passionate man,” he said. “I think John’s going to be be a really important member of the team.”