CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Angry farmers wearing broad-brimmed hats and cracking kangaroo-hide whips rallied outside Parliament Monday as one of their colleagues continued a hunger strike to demand compensation for Australian climate change policy.

The protest by 250 farmers and their supporters drew public attention to the plight of sheep farmer Peter Spencer, who they say is on the 43rdday of his hunger strike to protest that he is not allowed to clear vegetation from his 20,000 acre (8,000 hectare) farm.

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"This is not about whether or not a farmer should be allowed to clear land, it's about fair compensation for the land that the government is stealing from farmers," said rally organizer Alastai McRobert, a friend of the hunger striker.

"He's determined that he isn't going to come down," McRobert added, unless Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or an envoy agrees to meet him.

Rudd urged Spencer to seek urgent medical attention, adding that his land dispute should be decided by the courts.

"Policy will not be changed by threats of violence or self-harm," Rudd's office said in a statement.

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