ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) of today is in many ways the victim of its own past success. The NFF organized its influence strategy and resource levels such that it could play a key role in processes of 'bargained consensus', which legitimated agricultural industry restructuring associated with Australia's efforts to maintain a competitive position in the international agricultural economy. The chapter analyses the challenges the NFF faces and the types of adaptations and transformations it is contemplating to forge a role in this difficult environment. It provides an overview of the Australian agricultural interest group system. The chapter outlines the two accounts of the NFFs role, considers the success of the NFF, explores the challenges it faces, and reviews the various strategies it is employing to survive. Post World War Two Australian agricultural policy can be usefully considered in two periods: a pre 1970s and a post 1970s era.
