Ms Norma Rohan:

I thank the Senator. Following on from his remarks with regard to Mr. Hynes, kindness, acknowledgement and talking are important things. Farming is a male dominated sector. They say men do not talk, but I reckon farmers do a lot of chatting. As I said earlier, I am not a health and safety expert. In terms of a cultural change around behaviours, there is no point in expecting one part of the sector to do that on its own while everybody else goes about their own business. It has to start in every part of the sector. The legislators need to make the farmer as important as the product that is being produced. There is no product without the farmer.

Senator Lombard spoke about mental health, isolation and so on. The farmer is all of the time having to fight for his or her spot or place. We need a lot more joined up thinking in every area rather than just a focus on the product. We need to focus on the farmer as well, and his or her family. It has been said many times that agriculture is the backbone of this country. We need to place the value on the farmer and the family and to respect all of them for what they have done and the legacy that they leave behind. As I said, we are all here today because farmers produce food for us to eat. We need to come together and support the farmers to do the work they need to do, without constantly imposing more regulations and legislation on them. I accept that the latter have to happen, but there is a way to do them. You cannot just go in and make demands. You need to talk to people and treat them with respect and kindness. That will go a long way towards bringing a cultural change. That is my humble opinion.