Rural Australians should embrace political competition after decades of remaining loyal to parties that have done nothing for them, a former independent MP says.
Tony Windsor, the former member for the NSW seat of New England, said the major parties were playing "tweedledum and tweedledee", which was not working for them.
The May 3 election is tipped to result in a minority government, in part due to the predicted rise of independents in key regional seats.
Mr Windsor said independent candidates, including former radio host Alex Dyson, who is contesting the regional Victorian seat of Wannon, were a "breath of fresh air".
"One thing that does work in politics is political competition," Mr Windsor told a Grain Producers Australia webinar on Wednesday night.
"Country people have suffered because they've stayed loyal to people who have never done anything for them.
"Loyalty in politics is never rewarded - the safe seats don't get anything, the marginal seats get attention."
Mr Windsor was among the independents who supported Labor to form a minority government in the hung parliament following the 2010 federal election.
Farming lobbyists stalled during that time because they got too caught up in rhetoric about the instability of a minority government, he said.
He warned grain growers not to go down the same path, but instead actively engage with senators and independents.
"A lot of people say it's going to be so hard to manage, it will be all over the place, like herding cats ... but there's some pretty intelligent people in this," Mr Windsor said.
He said there were several indicators that Labor was likely to form a minority government, including big spending promises from the National Party.
The Nationals have committed to a $20 billion regional future fund that would spend $1 billion a year outside the major cities.
"They know they can't win - you can throw money around like confetti if you know you haven't got to spend it."
