Ron Bahnisch was an inaugural member of The Cattlemen’s Union and Property Rights Australia. In both supporting and leadership roles, Ron was an influential, resolute figure in standing up for the rights of cattle producers, and later for the property rights of landowners.

In the utmost reaches of the Fitzroy River system on a minor creek south of Wandoan, Ron Bahnisch came from humble beginnings on a small brigalow block that his father had begun to develop.

Ron lived his final years at Gracemere much closer to the Fitzroy’s terminus, continuing an interest with irrigation which started with building an irrigation dam when he was running the family farm in the late 1960’s. His principal business became beef cattle, having over time purchased and sold a number of properties, but he kept a close eye on how water policy affected his community besides how government regulation diminished all agricultural productivity.

The origins of Ron’s lifetime participation in agricultural advocacy and conservative politics began in those early years. As a member of the old Graingrowers Association and the Country Party he foresaw the dangers of infiltration of extreme philosophies. As a young man, undeterred, he took on those who were far more seasoned in the public arena. He campaigned against purist free market thinking, where it was not practical, especially back in time when smaller producers did not have basic communication, let alone access to detailed market information. Later, in his role in the National Party Central Zone, he attended every branch meeting he could, encouraged members to form their concerns into resolutions and then he would take them to the Brisbane meetings, all at his own expense. He was a great believer in grassroots democracy and the common sense of the regular man on the land.

Ron had the incredible support of his wife Lorna. In 1972, with a young family, Ron and Lorna made a quantum shift after being successful in the draw for a ballot block in the Marlborough area, north of Rockhampton. They had very little startup capital, and in 1973 the beef crash came. Lorna described that it was “an adventure” – with two very old, small caravans, which were no more than wooden boxes, cooking on a campfire, bathing in a dam and carting in drinking water from a creek.

The beef crash spurred on Ron’s involvement with the Cattlemen’s Union. During this time, producers often got a bill for their sales rather than proceeds while processors were paying substantial dividends to their shareholders.

In 1976, the Cattlemen’s Union of Australia (CU) had its inaugural conference with more than 3,000 people in attendance. Ron Bahnisch and John Purcell were actively involved in gathering together the (many) more than 1,000 cattlemen in a room, which was the precondition for Graham McCamley becoming President of the organisation.

On the 16th May, 1977, Ron, who was Regional Chairman of the CU at the time, was instrumental in organising a blockade of the Gracemere Saleyards and successfully stopped the Monday sale. This move was considered to be radical grassroots activism at the time, but it was the one that brought national recognition to the organisation.

After twenty years, CU together with two other organizations, were rolled into the single State broadacre peak body.

Towards the end of the 1990’s environmental activism successfully changed government legislation. Ron and many others became concerned about the lack of industry support for unjust prosecutions under the Vegetation Management Act, especially the government pursuit of previous CU colleague Ashley Mackay. As Ron never had time for an organisation that believed it had to keep on side with government at the expense of its own members, it is no surprise that he became a foundation member of Property Rights Australia.

In time, Ron began serving on the board of PRA and then became Chairman. Using a sporting team analogy, Ron’s time as the Chair was a time of rebuilding and transition. When PRA was formed a legal fighting fund war chest was built and the organisation did have considerable success supporting landowners being unfairly prosecuted in the courts. But this was due largely to inconsistencies in a poorly written VMA Act and overzealous compliance officers going beyond what the Act allowed them. In the early days, there were very large numbers at PRA events with many hoping for a legal silver bullet that would stop government introducing further regulations stripping away property rights. That support waned after the Board communicated top legal opinion, PRA had paid for, that there was no such silver bullet.

In April 2010, Ron’s opening remarks to the Senate Inquiry into ‘Native vegetation laws, greenhouse gas abatement and climate change measures’ included, “We have supported 14 cases in the last 11 years and had 13 wins. Our loss in the 14th case occurred as an appeal and, as we speak, we are taking this appeal to the High Court of Australia. We have intentionally been hard-edged in our opposition to these dreadfully draconian environmental laws in this country.”

Ron was quite rightly proud of the 13 of 14 (the 14th was under appeal and was eventually dropped by the government) court wins that Property Rights Australia supported.

Earlier in 2010, he organised a Queensland contingent to join a march of over 3000 farmers on Parliament House, Canberra to protest yet more land use restrictions, all taken without compensation which he always argued vigorously for.

Ron, as Chair, initiated PRA attention to other issues and advocated for individual families where they were not compensated for the taking of full use of their business. It was at this time that PRA began many years of work trying to improve the outcomes for landowners who do not have the right to say no to coal seam gas field development on their land.

It may have been the right time for Ron to hold the reins to PRA with his stoic, resolute attributes mixed with his caring for his community, serving with common sense. Ron had always put his heart and mind to any organization he was involved in.

When Ron Bahnisch was awarded life membership of PRA at the 2015 conference, it was awarded to Lorna also. This had always been a strong partnership and Lorna was an intricate part of Ron’s achievements. Our thoughts are with Lorna, their three sons and their families.