NORTH East federal election candidates have condemned farm protests by animal rights activists, with Coalition hopefuls labelling them "outrageous" and "far beyond peaceful protest".
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The unified denunciation came at a candidates' forum held at Benalla on Wednesday night which attracted more than 220 voters.
During the two-hour forum they were asked their thoughts on extreme animal activists and how they would deal with them.
Nationals candidate Mark Byatt said as a part-time farmer he was disgusted at targetting of properties.
"I find it quite outrageous that this is allowed to happen, when it is breaching law and when it is consistently the same proponents breaching that law then there's got to be some consequences," Mr Byatt said.
Liberal candidate Steve Martin said such behaviour amounted to home invasion and was "horrendous".
"Absolutely people can protest but this is far beyond peaceful protest," Mr Martin said.
Orange Independent Helen Haines, Labor's Eric Kerr and United Australia Party hopeful Shane Wheatland echoed that sentiment.
Wednesday night's forum, which came on the eve of an election being officially called, saw candidates peppered on subjects ranging from high speed rail to the Adani coal mine project in Queensland.
Ms Haines said the "smart money" was against "dirty coal" and "I'm voting with the young people on this one and it's no to Adani for me".
That prompted Mr Martin to suggest to her that she was against coal mining in Australia.
Ms Haines said her answer referred to Adani.
Neither Mr Martin or Mr Byatt explicitly stated whether they were for or against the foreign-owned mine project.
Concerns over health services saw Mr Martin and Mr Kerr tell of personal impacts.
Asked about the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Mr Martin said his experience came via his daughter Eve, 2, who has Down syndrome, being a beneficiary.
He said it was a "giant bureaucracy" with "very significant teething problems" that he would fight to remedy.
Mr Kerr said the need for better mental health services was clear in his eyes because at the age of 25 he had seen three of his high school friends commit suicide.
The forum was Mr Wheatland's big debut event with him spruiking party boss Clive Palmer's policies.
Mr Wheatland said UAP would tear up the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and set up nuclear power stations in each state with zero emissions.
The Euroa resident said climate change was caused by the sun's rays and not man-made.
