He doesn’t get far before volunteers at Brendan Farrell’s Burrumbuttock Hay Runners stand at Henty Field Days stop him and insist he take a souvenir shirt and drink cooler. He then opens up.

He’s originally from Queensland, the drought-ravaged region around Longreach, but has been down south for a while.

He has friends who have endured years of hardship: financial, physical, mental and emotional.

“You saved a mate of mine. No-one could get through to him, he was at the end. Gone. But you helped him. Saved his life. I just wanted to say thanks,” he says.

His act, and his story, symbolises the impact Brendan Farrell, Riverina farmer and truck driver, has had on so many people in rural Australia.

Mr Farrell hears these stories every day and cannot understand why governments don’t help farmers and farming communities – the people who work every day to feed the country.

He says he knows a dinner table conversation over an unpaid bill can easily escalate with the women copping a punch in the head, to acknowledging nods from the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association meeting he’s speaking at.

Australia loves Brendan Farrell because he’s one of us, a country bloke who wanted to return a favour and help someone, because someone once helped him.

He also knows the mental health of people is just as important as hungry stock. 

Mr Farrell is happy to stand up and be the face and voice for rural Australia if it helps put the spotlight on those in need.

“To realise I just saved his mate’s life and that’s why you do it. It’s why we’ve got volunteers here doing what we do, they’re not even volunteers they’re just mates,” he says at Henty.

It is why thousands of everyday Australians donate to his campaign.

Burrumbuttock Hay Runners have delivered thousands of food hampers and stock feed to people in need, and will continue to do so while the need is there and no-one else appears to care.

Those in the halls of power need to start listening to Brendan Farrell’s message. 

When hardship strikes it hits the entire family. Domestic violence and suicide are just some outcomes and authorities must show more respect to rural Australian lives.