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representatives vote 2019-02-20#1
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2019-02-28 15:58:32
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Title
Motions — Dairy Industry- Motions - Dairy Industry - Government intervention required
Description
<p class="speaker">Joel Fitzgibbon</p><p>I seek leave to move the following motion:</p><p class="italic">That the House:</p>- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/debates/?id=2019-02-20.3.2) introduced by Hunter MP [Joel Fitzgibbon](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/hunter/joel_fitzgibbon), which means it failed.
- ### Motion text
- > *That the House:*
- > *(1) notes that:*
- >> *(a) Australia's dairy farmers are caught in a long-running cost-price squeeze, where they are paid less than the cost of producing their milk; and*
- >> *(b) Government intervention is needed to save our dairy sector and our dairy farmers; and*
- > *(2) therefore, calls on the Government to task the ACCC with testing the efficacy of a minimum farm gate milk price and to make recommendations on the best design options.*
<p class="italic">(1)notes that:</p><p class="italic">(a)Australia's dairy farmers are caught in a long-running cost-price squeeze, where they are paid less than the cost of producing their milk; and</p><p class="italic">(b)Government intervention is needed to save our dairy sector and our dairy farmers; and</p><p class="italic">(2)therefore, calls on the Government to task the ACCC with testing the efficacy of a minimum farm gate milk price and to make recommendations on the best design options.</p><p>Leave not granted.</p> <p class="speaker">Government Members</p><p>Government members interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Smith</p><p>Members on my left are preventing the member for Hunter receiving the call.</p> <p class="speaker">Joel Fitzgibbon</p><p>I move:</p><p class="italic">That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Hunter from moving the following motion forthwith:</p><p class="italic">That the House:</p><p class="italic">(1)notes that:</p><p class="italic">(a)Australia's dairy farmers are caught in a long-running cost-price squeeze, where they are paid less than the cost of producing their milk; and</p><p class="italic">(b)Government intervention is needed to save our dairy sector and our dairy farmers; and</p><p class="italic">(2)therefore, calls on the Government to task the ACCC with testing the efficacy of a minimum farm gate milk price and to make recommendations on the best design options.</p><p>This is not just a motion about dairy farmers, as important as our dairy farmers are and as much as they are struggling. This is a motion about a broken dairy industry. The fact is that our farmers aren't making money. In fact, most are losing money. The fact is that our processors aren't securing good returns either. The greatly ironic part of the market is that our retailers are not making money either, but, in their case, because they choose not to. I've been watching this market very, very intensely for a five-year period now. I've watched more farmers leave the land, I've seen more farmers culling their cattle and I've seen more farmers in tears.</p><p>Just today, Dairy Australia produced its latest outlook for the industry, and the news is all bad. There are a couple of glimpses of hope in some dairy regions in the country, and we welcome that. But production is down year on year and is predicted to fall further in the future.</p><p>Government members interjecting—</p><p>Not too many people, including those interjecting, would know this—few members of this House would know this, and I wouldn't expect them to know it—but we are very close now in this country to being a net importer of dairy products. Think about that. Australia is on the edge of being a net importer of dairy products. If we are not careful—and I don't make this comment lightly; it's not my style to overreach—but we are facing a situation now where our drinking milk and the milk we put on our Wheaties will be imported powdered milk. This is now coming close to being a national emergency.</p><p>Unlike the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources—and I welcome the fact that he has joined us—I'm not into criticising and attacking the retailers. I'm not into criticising and attacking the processors. We can only have a strong value chain and an efficient market if everyone is productive and everyone is making some money. And the farmers should be amongst those who can make some money, because if they don't start making some money there won't be any dairy farmers.</p><p>Twenty-three years I've been here, and I said to the member for Jagajaga last week, who's also been here 23 years, 'We've seen at least three things here in this place this week that we've never seen before.' I saw another one yesterday: a cabinet minister calling for a consumer boycott of two major retailers in this country. Where does this end? What boycott, Minister, will it be next week? But here's what really hurts. The majority of farmers don't provide their milk to Woolworths; many more than those who supply Woolworths provide milk to Coles and ALDI. So the minister has called for a boycott of farmers who provide milk to Coles and ALDI. Of course, he hasn't thought about all those others who supply Coles and ALDI, and of course he hasn't thought about all those who work at Coles and ALDI. But the piece de resistance was that we found out the minister had shares in Woolworths!</p><p class="italic">Mr Littleproud interjecting—</p><p>Minister, guess what? We don't care how many you hold. You can sit there all day and argue you don't hold many, but you have a direct pecuniary interest in the war you launched on Coles and ALDI yesterday.</p><p>This government has been governing this country, or trying to govern this country, unsuccessfully, for five years now. The drought that farmers are facing, which is compounding the cost price squeeze, is becoming very, very serious for dairy farmers. What have the government done in five years? Have they had a plan to help farmers adapt to a changing climate? No. Have they had a plan to lift farmgate prices for farmers? No. Do they have a future for the industry? No. Have they brought the processors, retailers and farmers together to see how we can lift productivity and profitability across the value chain? No. Nothing. They talk the talk but they never walk the walk.</p><p>For at least the last four years we've supported a mandatory code of conduct for the dairy industry. Now, I can be a bit of an economic rationalist. I was of the view for a number of years that the dairy industry would fix itself. The dairy industry would fix itself, the market would play, the small and less efficient would exit the market, and the vacuum would be filled by bigger and efficient players. I was wrong. It's not happening. It's a simple fact: it is not happening. The bigger and efficient players can't make money either, because they just don't have sufficient market power. So I used to think, 'A mandatory code of conduct would fix this. 'We will manage the behaviour of those in the sector and help the dairy farmers.' The government opposed it. They opposed it. Here, in their fifth year of government, they now support it. In the absence of any other idea, they now support the mandatory code of conduct. And guess what? When do you think they're going to introduce the mandatory code of conduct? On 1 July 2020.</p><p>About a year ago, to buy Pauline Hanson's vote in the Senate for their tax cuts, they introduced a mandatory code for the sugar industry. How long do you think it took them to develop, introduce and legislate that mandatory code? Less than 24 hours—overnight. Overnight, for Pauline Hanson's vote, they developed a mandatory code for the sugar industry. But the dairy farmers have to wait till 1 July 2020.</p><p>We should not be surprised. The government are playing to the crowd all the time. They love the dairy farmers! They're the salt of the earth! They never mention they're also often their pre-selectors. But they never do anything for them. And, out of ideas on drought, they have a drought summit, a talkfest! And, of course, they appointed a drought envoy.</p><p class="italic">Ms Burney interjecting—</p><p>I thank the member for Barton—where is the drought envoy? They're asking the same thing down at the Menindee Lakes. They're asking the same thing in every drought affected area in the country. The media asks where the drought envoy has been. He's been on 23 trips, I think it was, or something, last month. But then they said: 'But where were they?' Do you know where they were? They were all in the drought envoy's electorate, because the drought envoy knows he's in trouble, so no-one else sees him. He spends all of his time talking about drought, but only in his own electorate.</p><p>Now I need to say this. The day after the drought envoy left the role of agriculture minister, I said in this place, 'Well, the member for New England's gone, and today we begin cleaning up the mess.' I was encouraged by the arrival of the current minister. I thought he was different from the member for New England. He seemed more sensible. He seemed less populist. He was certainly more interested in having discussions with me about policy issues in the sector, even on live sheep. He came to the party, commissioned some inquiries and talked about tougher regulation, and I was really encouraged by all of that. But, you know, with the National Party, in the end it's all politics; it's all the base; it's all about holding onto the seats. They only need four per cent to become half of the government, where they just bully and get the most ridiculous decisions out of prime ministers. Whether it be Prime Minister Abbott, Prime Minister Turnbull or, now, Prime Minister Morrison, the stupid ideas—the APVMA relocations, the regional investment corporations—that do nothing other than destroy the sector just keep coming forward.</p><p>So, Minister, I'm sorry, but you've been a great disappointment. You've just reverted to type. You are as much a National Party agriculture minister as all those that went before you over many, many decades. You are not interested in the farmers. You are not interested in policy. You are not interested in helping them lift their productivity and sustainable profitability. You are just interested in one thing: you've got your eye on the leadership, and the only way you'll get there is to keep these Neanderthals up on the crossbench happy. And, of course, in that context, the farmers come second every time.</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Smith</p><p>Is the motion seconded?</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Jones</p><p>The motion is seconded, Mr Speaker. Standing orders should be suspended so that we can debate this motion. In a normal parliament, it would be the National Party that would be moving a motion like this today. In a normal parliament, it would be the National Party that would be standing here moving a motion like this. But the fact of the matter is that it falls to Labor to do the work for the dairy farmers of Australia because the National Party are uninterested, incapable and unable to do it. It should be the Country Liberal Party members who are moving this motion today, but they've gone missing. They're not even in the chamber focusing on this issue. So it falls to Labor to do the job of a divided and incompetent government, and that is what we are dealing with.</p><p>The dairy industry is in crisis.</p> <p class="speaker">Dan Tehan</p><p>Socialist, populist crap!</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Smith</p><p>The minister!</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Jones</p><p>The minister over there says it's crap. The minister should visit the south coast of New South Wales</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Smith</p><p>The member for Whitlam will resume his seat. The minister will come to the despatch box and withdraw. You will come to the despatch box and withdraw.</p> <p class="speaker">Dan Tehan</p><p>I withdraw.</p><p class="italic">Dr Mike Kelly interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Smith</p><p>The member for Whitlam has the call. As usual, the member for Eden-Monaro is not helping.</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Jones</p><p>This is no small issue. I encourage the ministers to visit the south coast of New South Wales, where the dairy industry is in crisis. From Albion Park in my electorate and Jamberoo all the way through to Batemans Bay—and I see the member for Eden-Monaro here—and the Victorian border, dairy farmers are crying out for help. Thousands and thousands of cattle are being sold. The thousands of workers who work on dairy farms face the very real prospect of losing their jobs. Farmers who have been on their properties for generations are thinking very seriously about walking through the gates and handing in the keys. This is no small matter. It should be the National Party or the Liberal Party which is bringing to this parliament the issues, the policies and the solutions to this, but they are bereft of ideas.</p><p>The member for Hunter has pointed out that the ACCC recommended, 12 months ago, a mandatory code of conduct for the dairy industry. Anybody who's been in this place a long time would know that the ACCC is very slow to recommend such an instrument. Those opposite have had over 12 months to act on this, but still there is no action—still no action. The Liberal and National parties are unable to answer the problems of the dairy farmers of the South Coast of New South Wales and right around the country, but Labor will step up to the plate. We see the sense of putting in place a mandatory floor price for milk. I've heard members on that side of the House give great speeches in the parliament saying this is exactly what's needed, but they are unable to convince their own minister and they're unable to convince the Liberal Party. They're so divided amongst themselves they're unable to get agreement and legislation on this. But Labor will do it. Labor will ensure that we have a mandatory code of conduct.</p><p>Those opposite can rush on some issues. We saw the Prime Minister rush to Cooktown to provide $6 million to re-enact a voyage that never happened. Well, how about a rush on this issue? How about a rush to put in place a mandatory code of conduct and to ensure that we have a minimum floor price on dairy and on milk?</p> <p class="speaker">Ann Sudmalis</p><p>You don't even know where your seat is. Jamberoo is in Gilmore.</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Jones</p><p>I hear the member for Gilmore interjecting. That's very courageous. The member for Gilmore won't even back her own candidate when it comes to her successor. They are so divided in Gilmore, so busy fighting amongst themselves—the Liberal Party fighting against the National Party; the former Liberal Party candidate fighting against the current Liberal Party candidate—that they are not fighting for the dairy farmers of the South Coast. If the member for Gilmore really cared about dairy farmers, she'd cross the floor.</p><p>Opposition members interjecting—</p><p>Government members interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Tony Smith</p><p>Members on both sides!</p><p class="italic">Mrs Sudmalis interjecting—</p> <p class="speaker">Stephen Jones</p><p>You had the opportunity. I hope you get the call. I hope you speak in favour of the dairy farmers on the South Coast, because you've done precious little for them over the last five years.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>
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