One Nation founder Pauline Hanson made the trip from Darlington Point to Ilfracombe in Queensland with the hay runners and said it had been an eye-opening experience. However, she called out Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and his fellow politicians, asking where they were in helping drought-stricken farmers.
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“People are saying they’re all angry because the government should be picking up the pieces here and they should be doing more,” Ms Hanson said. “They’re all saying ‘where’s Barnaby Joyce? Where’s the pollies?”
Ms Hanson and her driver, Sam McClellan, joined 118 other trucks towing more than 160 trailers full of hay. As the kilometres-long convoy made its way through small towns in country NSW and Queensland, people young and old would stop and wave. Cafe owners struggling to make ends meet had put on big feeds for the hay runners.
Just over the Queensland border in Barringun, a young farmer told Ms Hanson he had decided to donate to the cause.
“He had twins only 14 weeks old, a mortgage more than $800,000 and he still donated $4000 worth of hay,” Ms Hanson said. “I’ve done a lot in my life, especially since going into politics, but nothing like this. It’s going to be with me for the rest of my life.”
Ms Hanson said she wanted to get back into parliament because it was the government’s problem.
“Drought happens because of a lack of water, but all I’ve seen over the years is governments taking control of the water out of the hands of the farmers,” she said. “The country has woken up to the problem, the government put a price on water and allowed the sale of water and you can’t do that in Australia.”
Ms Hanson said Australia needed to be able to grow its own food and not just rely on imports.
“A lot of the politicians are all ‘yes people’, they’re not representing the people of this country but protecting their own seats in parliament and it’s about time we got some people in there who want to fight for the country,” she said. “I’m so proud of Brendan Farrell for organising this, so proud of the truckies and everyone involved and I’m so proud to be an Aussie.”
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