The landslide swing towards independents and The Greens in the federal election has been attributed to several key issues, including climate change.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
One thing is clear however, it's not just city voters that have climate policy at the forefront of their minds.
Chair of Farmers for Climate Action Charlie Prell is a fourth-generation sheep farmer who also hosts wind turbines on his Crookwell property.
Mr Prell said there was a general trend across all electorates to swing against any sitting politician who didn't have a committed position on climate change.
"[Farmers for Climate Action] is pleased that finally we had a climate election in a positive sense rather than a negative sense," Mr Prell said.
"It's really pleasing to see that at least the ambition from the Labor Party is nearly double the ambition of the previous government.
While Labor moves towards potentially forming a majority government, Mr Prell said the presence of independents alone would help keep Labor accountable.
"They will put pressure on Labor to ensure they keep pledges they've made in relation to the climate but also call them out or push very hard for stronger ambition in relation to emissions reductions," he said.
Polling by Farmers For Climate Action found across three key rural NSW electorates, Gilmore, Page and Eden Monaro, more than 70 per cent of voters said "effective climate change policies" were important to their vote.
Farmers for Climate Action CEO Fiona Davis said the results proved country voters supported strong climate policy to reduce emissions this decade and protect the farmers who grow our food.
Dr Davis said it was now "irrefutable" that country voters had voted for strong climate policy and deep emissions reductions.
"Rural and regional voters understand the opportunities strong climate policy brings them," Dr Davis said.
"Rural people are starting to see the really big renewables and hydrogen projects rolling out now, bringing thousands of sustainable jobs to their regions. These jobs are no longer a dream, they're the reality on the ground."
While the Hume electorate was not included in the polling, climate change was still an important issue for the region.
Mr Prell said there was a direct relationship between Hume and climate change policy with Liberal MP Angus Taylor the previous Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction.
The Chair of Farmers for Climate Action said the group's position remained firmly that strong committed action on climate change was needed, particularly in relation to the energy transition between now and 2030.
"There needs to be a change in the way the transition is happening, there needs to be a lot more support from government," Mr Prell said.
"For areas like where I live, we need a much broader distribution of the benefits from the new renewables that have been built.
Currently farmers who host renewables such as wind turbines receive financial benefits, however neighbouring properties do not.
"My experience is that the vast majority of farmers that I've spoken to over the years, are very willing and happy to host renewable energy generation facilities but there's a general reluctance to live next to those facilities," Mr Prell said.
"If the benefits are more equitably distributed then all of a sudden people that don't like the look of wind turbines, or who are frightened of the prospect of a large scale solar farm, those people will be encouraged to champion the cause for renewable energy."
Mr Prell said he was also eagerly waiting to hear who the next Minister for Agriculture would be.
"I think we've actually just experienced a political revolution in this country where roughly more than 30 per cent of the population didn't vote for one of the major parties and that is not going to change anytime soon," Mr Prell said.