'Keep a calm farm': Farmers told to keep cool in face of vegan protests
New video has emerged of animal activists in the Western Australian town of Harvey, where locals say they’re under siege from what they call ‘vegan terrorists’.
Fed-up farmers have rallied in the south west town after being told they need to “keep their cool.”
In the latest incident, animal rights activists tried to stop a truck from entering Harvey Beef.
“Touch my f***ing truck again and I’ll knock your f***ing head off,” the truck driver can be heard saying.
The protestor responds: “You should get a real job, you kill these animals and you don’t need to.”
It’s another example of vegans protesting against the dairy and meat industry, but farmers say they have had enough.
“These extreme activists, they’re not vegans, they’re some form of terrorism,” farmer Geoff Charteris said.
On Thursday night approximately 100 people turned up to a meeting in Harvey where police, lawyers and the Farming Federation warned everyone to “calm your farm.”
Their advice for farmers was to do nothing if protestors turn up, other than calling the police.
“We’re saying cool heads need to prevail, be reasonable, if you have concerns, call the police,” WA Police Commander Allan Adam said.
But farmers say that’s not good enough.
“I think the trespass laws definitely need to be clarified and strengthened, and that will solve half our problem,” farmer Mark Talbot said.
The latest incident comes after Harvey farmer Jason Parravicini confronted protestors outside his family home.
While two protestors were charged with trespass earlier this week, the industry fears the worst is yet to come.
“Farmers are at breaking point,” Mr Talbot said.
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