One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has been picked to open one of Australia’s biggest farm shows next month, drawing criticism that the “polarising” figure will shift attention from the needs of the agriculture sector “towards national political controversy.”
Organisers of the Henty Machinery Fields Days said Senator Hanson would open its annual gathering in the southern NSW town of Henty. The three-day event opens September 22.
“The Henty Machinery Field Days has long been recognised as a platform where industry, innovation and regional communities come together,” said Belinda Anderson, chief executive of the event, in a statement.
“We are delighted Senator Hanson has accepted our invitation to officially open the 2026 event and look forward to welcoming her to Henty,” she said, adding the One Nation’s leader’s attendance “highlighted the importance” of the show as “one of the nation’s largest and most influential agribusiness events.”
Graham Strong, a sheep farmer at Boree Creek, about an hour’s drive from Henty, said he had written to Ms Anderson, the board and chair of the Henty event to demand a review of the choice of Hanson to open the exhibition, one of the biggest ag trade shows in the nation.
“The issue is not whether Senator Hanson should be permitted to attend or engage with the agricultural community,” Strong wrote, in communications shared with Renew Economy. “Elected representatives from all political parties should be able to do so.
“Senator Hanson is a prominent and polarising national political figure. Regardless of individual political views, her selection risks shifting attention away from agriculture, innovation and regional enterprise and towards national political controversy,” Strong said.
“It may also create an impression of political alignment that could concern some exhibitors, sponsors, producers, volunteers and visitors.”
Strong noted his concern was heightened by Senator Hanson’s “well-known public scepticism towards established climate science.” In addition, agricultural science, engineering, water management, technology and climate information “were all central to the modern farming systems showcased” by the Henty shows.
“It is therefore reasonable to question whether this choice of official opener is consistent with the event’s industry and educational role.”
Renew Economy sought a response from the event organisers, who forwarded a general media statement.
It also contacted the office of One Nation MP, David Farley, who was chosen by voters in a by-election earlier this year as the country’s first member for One Nation to be elected into the lower house of federal parliament for his party.
Farley, who joined Nationals defector Barnaby Joyce as a One Nation MP, is also scheduled to join Hanson at the opening as the local member for Henty.
According to its website, One Nation is “the only political party to question climate science.”
“Climate scientists acknowledge that the earth’s climate has changed in the past including when large parts of the world were covered in ice,” the party’s explainer on its climate stance states. “The medieval warm period (950-1200) was following by colder and warmer periods.
“It is generally agreed that natural events caused these temperature changes,” the statement, without scientific citations, goes on. “These natural events include volcanic eruptions, and progressive changes in the earth’s tilt, the earth’s path around the sun and the wobble effect of the earth spinning on its axis.” [Italics in the original.]
Strong, who said he has been told of a “fairly significant ag organisation” that has also formally lodged an expression of concern, told Renew Economy that Hanson was “a bizarre choice.”
“[I]t was only last week we had the Renewables In Ag Conference which is now a pretty big event,” he said. “And in less than a month’s time we have another ag organisation giving a platform to the most divisive public figure in Australia [when it comes to] talking about improving diplomacy between farmers ad renewables developers.”
Strong said it was important to have “an adult conversation about renewables” and their presence in farming communities.
It was “better to avoid a political figure” if the choice by the organisers was going to be someone like Hanson, he said.
Farley, who drew media and political attention to his divergent views with Hanson on migration last Sunday, has also adopted a more nuanced climate stance than his leader.
Asked on ABC’s Insiders program about his thoughts on climate change, Farley said: “Farmers have the adaptability to move with it, within the seasons and within their own generations.”
Climate change “is a threat if we ignore it, but if we manage ourselves through to it, we’re on top of it and I think Australia’s doing a very good job at that”, he said.
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