Farmers die by suicide at rates significantly higher than the general population of non-farming rural areas.

Isolation and difficulty accessing services are some of the challenges faced by living in rural and remote communities in Australia.

The Leeton Harley and Bike Muster event is in support of the Mate Helping Mate program.

It is about mates being there for their mates.

The primary intention is to remove the stigma and the fear we have in talking and discussing mental health and it reinforces the importance of promoting positive mental health well-being.

It is understanding that $100 is a lot of money.

It’s hard to bring yourself to make the transaction to purchase a Leeton Harley and Bike Muster 100 Club ticket.

But if your $100 went towards potentially saving a family from crippling mental illnesses, help them have a fresh start into better mental health well-being and you have the chance to win $2000, $1000 or $500 cash back … wouldn’t that be a win-win?

Winners will be drawn at the bike muster on October 22 at the Leeton Showground.

If you are unable to attend the event, we would like to remind the community that you don’t need to be at the event to claim your prize.

Gates open at 4pm and we are gearing up for a great event with live music from Electric Rush and Weekend De-tention, gymkhana entertainment, rides, merchandise, food vendors, guest speakers on mental well-being and over 18 bar facility all confirmed for this year’s event.

You can find out more about the event, the Mate Helping Mate program and purchase a 100 Club ticket online at our website www.leetonharleybikemuster.com. We thank the Leeton community for their support the last two years and hope to continue helping rural and regional communities prevent mental health illnesses well into the future.

Patrick Tripodi

President

Leeton Harley and Bike Muster

FARMERS across the nation are breathing a sigh of relief following the announcement the proposed and highly controversial “backpacker tax” would be implemented at a reduced rate of 19 per cent.

First flagged in the 2015 Federal Budget, the measure had originally been set to tax working holiday makers as non-residents at a rate of 32.5 per cent. However, the agricultural community, fearing its temporary workforce would be decimated by this clear disincentive for backpackers to come to Australia, strongly opposed the measure.  This opposition included a petition which attracted around 50,000 signatures.

The agriculture sector warmly welcomed today’s common sense conclusion to what had been an ongoing issue for farmers across all Australian states and territories.

We have consistently said agriculture simply cannot do without backpackers and, following today’s announcement, we can again go to the working holiday maker community and say that coming to work on our farms is worth it. The measures announced by the government were sensible and reflective of the needs of both backpackers and the farm sector.

The nature of these types of working arrangements is that farmers need an immediate, temporary workforce and backpackers want immediate cash in their pockets to spend while travelling - so the approach taken makes sense.

Brent Finlay

President

National Farmers’ Federation