HUNGER-striking farmer, Peter Spencer, insists his protests have nothing to do with land clearing, but property rights, he told FarmOnline from the top of his "tower of hope" today.
Mr Spencer is now on day 44 of his strike – consuming only water, lemon juice and some vitamins – but appears to still be extremely coherent, animated and in good spirits.
He said he was only vaguely aware of the growing support he was getting from farmers and the public for his protest, and while urged by friends to come off the wind tower and end his hunger strike, Mr Spencer insisted it would happen if he spoke to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Mr Spencer has been arguing in the courts that the Commonwealth is deriving benefit from his farm because native vegetation restrictions which have banned him and other farmers from clearing their land have enabled the Government to meet its Kyoto commitments.
Mr Spencer has said this was carbon "theft" and he and other farmers should be compensated.
Mr Spencer and his supporters argue they have proof the Federal Government coerced the States into imposing land clearing restrictions, but concede there is nothing written in black and white to that effect.
They want constitutional recognition of the property rights, from which they say the Government is benefitting, and have called for compensation for Australian farmers to the tune of $10.8 billion.
The National Farmers Federation says it has been supportive of Mr Spencer’s case and the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund has been supporting it also.
An NFF spokesman said the case against the Federal Government was currently on hold in the High Court pending the outcome of Arnold and others vs the Commonwealth (Lower Murray groundwater case) as the two matters - from a constitutional perspective - were related.
He said the NFF has been pressing the Federal Government for due recognition of farmers, given the overwhelming reason Australia is on-track in meeting its Kyoto emissions targets is due almost entirely to farmers being denied the full use of their land as a result of land clearing bans.
"We maintain that the whole Australian community, not to mention the Government and the national economy, has been the benefactor of this cost born by farmers, which have seen agriculture’s emissions fall 40 per cent since 1990," he said.
NFF also said failure to compensate farmers was an abuse of farmers’ legitimate property rights and recognition should include both compensation to affected farmers and acknowledgement of the prior contribution of the farm sector through climate change mitigation policy development.
However, Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, said he was reluctant to make any statements "off the back of somebody publicly attempting self-harm" but insisted this was not a Federal Government issue.
"The only priority that matters right now is for Mr Spencer to again receive food," Mr Burke said.
"Anybody who sees Mr Spencer's current situation as an opportunity to advance a cause is doing him a grave disservice.
"Not withstanding this there is some misinformation about Federal Government policy which needs to be corrected.
"No action taken by this Government in relation to climate change has resulted in any change in the way in which farmers can use their land.
"Any suggestion to the contrary is just plain wrong.
"Mr Spencer's concerns relate to State land clearing legislation which was introduced more than 10 years ago."
Mr Burke said he had attempted to communicate this to Mr Spencer in a letter which was personally delivered by local MP, Mike Kelly.
"Unfortunately, a spokesman for Mr Spencer has indicated through the media that the letter will be returned unopened," Mr Burke said.
"The Government urges Mr Spencer in the strongest possible terms to end his protest and seek medical attention."
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