Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and congratulations on your new role. I am sure you will bring great distinction to this.

I rise to speak about something that is particularly important: the crisis in the dairy industry in Western Australia today. As of 1 October—that is in just 18 days' time—four of our dairy farmers, my fellow dairy farmers, in Western Australia will have no home at all for their milk. They have been told by their processor that their contract will not be renewed from this date. And no other processor has agreed or will agree to taking on these farmers' milk supplies. One of these dairy farmers is a new young farmer, Clayton Minson, who has only just recently bought his dairy farm. He has taken the risk, he and his wife have invested and they are having a go—and yet in 18 days' time, they will have no home for their milk. Another one is Graham Manning—both ends of the spectrum: the Manning family were actually pioneers of dairy farming in Western Australia, and Graham has produced some of the best quality milk in Australia throughout his time as a dairy farmer. In fact, for the last 16 years his milk has been in the top five per cent in Australia for quality. Yet he will have no home for this top-quality milk in 18 days. This also sees him—and us as an industry—losing decades and decades of breeding, and decades and decades of knowledge. And there are others: Dale and Leanne Hanks and Tony and Tina Ferraro and their families; they are the others of the four who will see no home for their milk in 18 days' time.

How does anybody think these farmers are feeling today? What do they do with their cows in 18 days' time? What do they do with their milk in 18 days' time?. If that was you, how would you be feeling? But it does not stop there. In Western Australia, a further five dairy farmers will have no home for their milk from 1 January, and they supply a different processor altogether. All of these dairy farmers are extremely vulnerable because they have a perishable product, one that has to be refrigerated and processed on a daily basis. They cannot store it, they cannot put it away, they cannot put it in a warehouse; it has to be manufactured on a daily basis. But they also have to supply these contracts until that very last day. And as for cows, Mr Deputy Speaker—I know you are aware—you cannot simply flick a switch and turn off the udder of a dairy cow. It does not work like that. As you know, it is a long-term investment, when you become a dairy farmer, and with each set of cows that you raise. It takes 2½ years from the time a heifer calf is born until she comes into the dairy as a milker. It is a two-and-a-half-year turnaround for that one animal. It is a long-term plan and a long-term investment by dairy farmers.

Given that the majority of milk in Western Australia is used in the domestic market, concerns have constantly been raised with me that the market dominance of the two leading grocery retailers is having a major impact on farmgate milk prices. And of course, what really concerns me with $1 milk is the value that consumers then place on that product. To think of what goes into the production, the processing and the delivery of milk—and to think that it is cheaper than water! When you consider the time, the effort, the expertise and the excellence that goes into producing milk around Australia, to see the value go out of this product—in my mind, it is just appalling. The problem arises from market dominance, whether it is in grocery sales or in any other marketplace. It is that processers and producers cannot negotiate a fair price or terms and conditions for their goods. That is what happens. Processers and producers who are unable to make sufficient returns on capital simply cannot make the necessary investments or maintain their businesses. That is it in a nutshell. An additional undesirable outcome is the reduction—often—of the number of branded products, as well as where they are placed on the shelves. We all know that milk and dairy products in effect lead the consumer through a store to the very back—that is where the refrigerated section is. What else will a consumer pick up, along the way to pick up their milk and their dairy products when they go into to a supermarket?

The crisis in the WA dairy industry was highlighted by the Western Australia Farmers Federation dairy representatives at the dairy symposium held in Melbourne recently. I thank the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, for convening this symposium, because the issue facing Western Australia had not been raised at a national level. The amount of people in that room who had no idea that we had these nine farmers who would have no home for their milk in a short amount of time was borne out. I also want to acknowledge the work of the dairy section president, the newly elected Michael Partridge, who actually ran the debate for Western Australia at that symposium. It was an opportunity to facilitate an industry-led discussion, and this is needed to better manage the risk—

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