Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I supported this motion and I am grateful for the comments of both Senator Williams and Senator Heffernan in additional comments to both the first and second dairy inquiry reports. I supported this motion because I believe that time is running out for our farmers, that more and more of them are facing increased pressures due to the lack of competition in the grocery sector and that we have failed to fundamentally deal with the fact that we have two gorillas in the room, Coles and Woolworths, that control close to 80 per cent of the dry grocery market and something like 50 per cent of the fruit and vegetable market. That is why I believe this motion has considerable merit. We are running out of time for our farmers. This is meant to be the year of the farmer, but I fear this could be the year of the foreclosure for more and more farmers who have had difficulty in dealing with a very uncompetitive situation in our grocery sector.