Why Australia Can't Ignore Its Farmers

Agriculture has ruled the roost in Australia since the country's inception. Maintaining and expanding international access for its agricultural goods has long been a key plank of the country's trade policy, and its agricultural groups continue to lobby strongly for expansive free trade deals to overcome a small domestic market, to make inroads into countries with more profitable products and to defeat competition from other exporters. And though diversification has resulted in the emergence of others sectors in recent decades, the farming industry's continued growth in value and employment -- as well as its alignment with the country's broader trade policies -- means it will remain a guiding influence regardless of who rules Australia....