Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I table an explanatory memorandum. I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

Farmers are selling their dairy herds and their properties in record numbers, because the economics of dairy farming has been undermined by milk processors and supermarkets charging $1 a litre for milk, much less than the cost of bottled water.

In 2011 Coles started selling milk at $1 a litre as a way of eliminating competition from local shops, where households traditionally would buy bread and milk. Shortly afterwards Woolworths matched Coles' price.

In 2014 the dairy industry put a submission to government in response to the Agricultural Competitiveness Issues Paper and said "It has been the firm position of Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) that the introduction of a mandatory Code of Conduct is necessary to balance the market power of the major retailers, along with the appointment of a Supermarket Ombudsman with teeth to oversee compliance with the Code, including significant financial penalties."

In 2018 the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) reported on the Australian dairy industry and made 8 recommendations, including that a mandatory code be introduced, but the government has not implemented one recommendation.

In short, the government has given billions of dollars of subsidies to foreign owned multinational solar and wind companies while not lifting a finger to help dairy farmers and the rural towns that depend on them.

In 1999 the dairy industry sought agreement from the State and Federal governments to remove laws governing the regulation of the industry. By 2000 the dairy industry was deregulated. Hopes were high for increased prices and increased milk product exports, but the promises made to dairy farmers did not eventuate. The dairy industry went into almost immediate decline, and that pattern has continued with the exception perhaps of Victoria.

One way to see the decline in the dairy industry is to look at the official statistics.

In 1999/2000 there were 12,896 dairy farms and 2,171,000 cows producing nearly 12 billion litres of fresh milk. Twenty years later, half the dairy farms operate with one third fewer cows and milk production is down to 8.7 million litres. Exports of dairy products have fallen and profitability has collapsed in the dairy industry.

The dairy industry warns us that we are in danger of losing access to fresh milk. Queensland and South Australia now import milk from Victoria, and in the future we face the likelihood of relying on imported milk powder. If dairy farmers continue to exit the industry we face the prospect of not being self-sufficient for fresh milk and milk based products.

Rationing of basic foods was implemented in the UK during World War II because they were not self-sufficient in dairy and other foods. We never want to lose food security.

The purpose of this Bill is to ensure the viability of what I believe to be an essential industry.

It is three minutes to midnight on this matter and the government is still sitting on its hands.

How can the government stand by and allow milk processors to use their market power and force dairy farmers to enter into multi-year unfair contracts, because there is no mandatory code in place?

How many more dairy farmers and rural towns have to suffer before the government will act to provide a fair playing field for dairy farmers?

The reality is that dairy producers are rushing to exit the industry as poor milk prices and high production costs contribute to the decline.

The government has burdened all of us, including dairy farmers, with high electricity prices because they picked wind turbines and solar panels over coal turbines.

If the government had applied the same market logic to the electricity sector as it has done to the dairy sector, then some dairy farmers might be staying on the land.

If the government had explained to the farming community the consequences of creating a water market where water goes to the highest value use, then dairy farmers might not have sold their water rights in an attempt to stay in the industry.

Whichever way you look the government has failed rural communities and in particular dairy farmers and the 42,000 people employed in the industry.

The purpose of the Bill is to ensure the viability of the dairy industry through three measures. Firstly to task the ACCC with establishing a base or minimum price for the milk fat and protein content of milk produced on the farm. The second purpose is to ensure mandatory codes are implemented to deal with the imbalances between dairy farmers and milk processors and supermarkets. The third purpose is to require the Productivity Commission to inquire into whether a legislative regime to require divestiture by corporations should apply to the food and grocery industries to encourage greater competition.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

(Quorum formed)