Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ten years ago, the Goulburn-Murray irrigation system consisted of thousands of individual water entitlements which, together, were some 1,900 gigalitres of fresh water used to irrigate some of the nation's flattest country with the greatest soils and a superb and moderate Mediterranean climate. This huge area of this irrigation system had been commenced in 1886. It consisted of thousands of kilometres of earthen channels and was a miracle of the evolution of engineering in Australia where gravity brought this water from one point down across the Great Northern Plains, ending up as drainage into the great Murray River. All of this water availability in what is a very dry climate was converted into Australia's biggest dairy manufacturing region. There were thousands of hectares of magnificent fruit trees, vines and olive trees, with the country's most famous icon brands produced in more than 25 food factories. These brands included preserved fruit, cheese and butter. There were labels like IXL, SPC, Ardmona, Goulburn Valley, Rosella, Heinz, Murray Goulburn, Tatura Milk, Bonlac and many more.

In 2007, in the middle of the worst drought on record and the first time that the irrigation system had failed, we were reduced to some 1,600 gigalitres. Farmers were forced to sell their water in order to preserve their herds, to convert the price for water to fodder purchased on an obviously very expensive market. In what was a very cruel move, Senator Penny Wong, then Minister for the Environment, saw an opportunity and put out tenders for these irrigators to put their water into the Commonwealth environment water holders basket. This water then was taken out of production for all time.

In 2006, there were still 2,700 dairy farms in the five shires across the Great Northern Plains, but by 2010 at the end of the drought this number had reduced to less than half. Only 1,143 farms were still in production. But while the numbers of farms had been reduced by over half as so many had been forced to sell their water, milk production was only reduced by some 32 per cent. This was because of the massive increased levels of borrowing—often some 50 per cent—invested in buying the extra fodder, other supplementary feed or the purchase of additional temporary water, anything to rescue the pastures and to save their herds and to save the orchards.

It is ironic that in some studies over the period of the drought and at the end there was a suggestion that farmers could in fact survive with much less water that only dropped their milk supply by 30 per cent but their numbers had dropped by half. Those studies, particularly from the Grattan Institute, failed to take into account the fact that borrowings had doubled during that period of time, making some dairy farms very vulnerable to any dropping of price for their product. That has now happened, of course, and our dairy farms are in great strife even though they continue to produce some of the best milk product in the world.

You would think that, with the drought and with two of the worst flood years on record following that drought over, we would now be in better times, recovering back to the highly productive state we were before that 10-year drought. Sadly, I have to say that there are now forces at work which are making viability on our farms even harder. We could work through drought and flood, but we cannot work through a high Australian dollar, dumped food product into the Australian market and a voracious duopoly in the form of Coles and Woolworths, who will snap up these cheap imported preserved fruits, stuff them into their own generic brands and offer them to the householders at half the price of Australian produce.

Today there was a deputation in parliament with the AMWU from Victoria and grower and factory representatives from the Goulburn Valley and the Murray Valley. They begged this government to immediately act on the WTO consistent safeguard measures to put in an emergency set of duties to give them breathing space while an anti-dumping action is brought so they can survive as fruit growers into the near and further future. There is a great opportunity supplying great fruits to the rest of the world and the Asian century. This is not going to happen unless this government acts very soon.