"Farmers, like Shooters and Fishers, have been largely neglected and oppressed by the major parties and the Greens," Shooters and Fishers Party NSW MLCs Robert Borsak and Robert Brown said in a statement. They said the name change "is reflective of our evolving advocacy and campaigning for the farming sector". "We have championed many rural and regional based issues, including native vegetation laws, water restrictions, rejection of e-zoning and biodiversity overlays, right to farm legislation, coal seam gas and absolute privacy rights". Mr Brown told Fairfax Media the decision has been "precipitated by Malcolm Turnbull having a go at us in the Senate". "If Malcolm Turnbull wants to start throwing punches then obviously we're going to start punching back," he said.

The Shooters and Fishers Party fell well short of its expectations at the 2013 federal election when it failed to win a Senate spot. Mr Brown said this was because of the unexpected success of Liberal Democratic Party's NSW Senator David Leyonhjelm. The LDP drew first position on the ballot paper and its party name was believed to have attracted Liberal voters. The federal government's proposed changes - supported by the Greens and independent Senator Nick Xenophon - are bad for the minor parties as they make it harder to strike complex preference deals. They introduce option preferential voting above the line on the Senate ballot paper, meaning parties no longer determine to whom preferences flow.

"If Turnbull hadn't change the rules, we were 100 per cent confident of getting at least one Senator in one state – WA or NSW," Mr Brown said. But the state director of the NSW Nationals, Nathan Quigley, dismissed the move. "I think farmers understand which party is in there looking after them and getting results on things like native vegetation [law reform] rather than screaming from the cross benches," he said. "The other question is, what's next: do they try to become the Shooters, Fishers, Farmers and Pharmacists party to further expand their constituency?" Mr Quigley said the Shooters and Fishers do "a very good job as a lobby group for a small but important constituency".

"I think if they want to represent that constituency well they should stick to what they're good at," he said. Mr Brown said: "Every party will do whatever they can to broaden their individual appeal."