Keep the Sheep trucks in protest through Perth’s major roads as farmers say they’re ‘not country hicks’

Keep the Sheep campaigners heartened by the overwhelming support from people living in Perth say they are eager to show them that farmers are not a “bunch of country hicks”.

Hundreds of cars and trucks took to the streets of Perth this morning to show their support for farmers and protest the Albanese Government’s plan to ban live sheep exports by May 2028.

Four convoys, starting at Bedfordale, Mundijong, Neerabup and Fremantle, met at 7.30am before following a set route through Perth before converging at Quarry Farm at Whitby at 10am.

Addressing a 200-plus crowd at the Neerabup starting point this morning, Keep the Sheep rally organiser Paul Brown — who is running for the Nationals in the Senate — said the movement aimed to be “peaceful but effective”.

“We are not here to cause chaos, we are here to send a message,” he said.

“It is important to show everyone that farmers are not bunch of country hicks, like we believe Anthony Albanese was trying to portray us as.”

Keep the Sheep campaigners have mobilised against Federal Labor MPs in recent weeks, targeting marginal seats like Tangney, Hasluck, Swan, Pearce and Cowan as voters waited for the date of the Federal election to be called.

The Albanese Government has legislated that live sheep exports will end by May 2028, while the Coalition has vowed to overturn it.

Mr Brown, who owns a cattle feedlot in the Pilbara, said he believed farmers protesting the ban had the ear and eyes of those living in the city after holding a similar rally last year.

“The overwhelming message that came out of that first rally was support for what we were doing, support for the farming community, and support for the shearers, truck drivers and regional communities that Mr Albanese is trying to devastate,” he said.

“City people came out, they waved their signs, they tooted their horns… and on feedback radio, people who were disrupted did not mind what we were doing.”

Mr Brown also revealed the Keep the Sheep campaigners planned to hold “Perth’s biggest barbecue” in the Perth CBD in coming weeks to bridge the city and country divide.

“We want the people of Perth to support us… and their support has continued to gather that support from day one,” he said.

Miling sheep farmer Michelle Barnard and her seven-year-old son Kieran made the 200km trip to be among the crowd at the Neerabup starting point to show their “extreme disappointment”.

The Barnards — whose family has been farming in the Wheatbelt since 1907 — believe they will lose 25 per cent of their income and their local community will be “severely affected” if the ban goes ahead.

“We came to show our disappointment in the Labor Government, and that we want this ban to be overturned,” Ms Barnard said.

“Farmers in rural communities have had enough. The effect of this ban will be devastating.

“Farmers are feeling disheartened. Farming is a tough gig at the mercy of the weather, and now we have to fight the government too.

“All we want to do is get on and farm, and put food on people’s tables.”

Holding his sign at the front of the crowd, Kieran said he was “really proud” to be a farmers’ son.

“I want to be a farmer and a livestock truck driver,” he said.

“I came here to hold my sign and be the loudest voice out there.”

It wasn’t just Wheatbelt farmers among the crowd, with livestock truck driver Mick Tierney making the 850km journey from Mileura Station near Cue to show his support.

A farmers’ son from Kalannie originally, he said livestock trucking enabled his parents to put him and his sibling through boarding school.

“I know how important the sheep industry is,” he said.

“Our station cattle are exported from Fremantle on ships shared with sheep… so this ban would have an impact on pastoralists as well.”

Long-term friends Max Smith, Harvey Goudge and Wayne Briggs, were among the crowd clapping on the convoy as it departed Neerabup before joining in their trucks.

Mr Smith, a sheep farmer from Wannamal, said the trio were gravely concerned about the wider impact the live sheep export ban would have on regional and rural communities.

“When farming is damaged, the rest of us suffer… transporters, suppliers, repairers and mechanics, there is a flow on to small towns which are already struggling,” he said.

“A ban like this will have an enormous impact.”

The rally comes after more than 1700 vehicles and 3000 people took part in a similar movement on May 28 last year.