Grievance Debate

Dairy Industry

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:06): I rise today to talk about the cuts to the farmgate price of milk affecting dairy farmers. They will affect about a quarter of South Australia's 253 dairy farms which produce 550 million litres of milk from about 82,000 cows each year. One of the great concerns is that other dairy processors will follow the price cuts from the new season on 1 July.

What I found very interesting even today was the state government's announcement of $60,000 to deliver Taking Stock, which is basically a counselling program, when many farmers coming into my office need real on-ground assistance. Compare that to our Victorian counterpart, who has put in $11 million: that is $60,000 versus $11 million.

I also find it disappointing that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries put out a press release saying that he was going to be holding urgent meetings with Fonterra while he was in New Zealand for the agriculture ministers' conference and would raise the issue with other state ministers, yet, in today's Dorothy Dixer, there was absolutely no information coming out at all. What did they discuss? What solutions and what actions going forward were discussed? What can I go back and tell the farmers in my electorate this state government is doing to support them other than a counselling program when, as I said, they need real on-ground assistance?

Just keep in mind that dairy production generates $930 million worth of revenue in South Australia. It is a major industry. Quite rightly, we focus heavily on steel manufacturing and the issues facing one part of that industry, yet for dairy production there is scant comment and scant regard. I thought I would just talk a little bit about a few of the dairy farmers who have made contact with me, such as Peter Bowd, who came into my office.

Peter is a very 'out there' thinking type guy and actually built an underpass under a main road between two of his dairies, at a cost of $170,000 of his own money, so that cows were not crossing a main road going towards Carpenter Rocks. In the last three months on his farm alone, he spent $400,000 in running costs and quite regularly says that running expenses are around $50,000 per month. Last year alone, taxes amounted to $200,000. He is one of my dairy farmers who is contributing positively to the South Australian economy.

We then have Graeme Hamilton. Graeme is a medium to large-scale dairy farmer. He will be asked for $280,000 in clawbacks coming back to the state government. Adam Maidment, who has a 300-cow fully robotic dairy, is in absolute disbelief and says it is a crisis that they need some relief from.

So, what can the state government do? What things could this state government be pondering? I call on the state government to look at a 12-month suspension of NRM levies on dairy farms. Again, it was a question asked in today's question time that was neatly deflected by the Treasurer because he does not want to answer any of these questions. A 12-month suspension is barely going to be a hit to the South Australian budget, but it is a show of good faith to our people in the dairy industry.

There should be a campaign by the South Australian government to promote dairy and the importance of buying South Australian produce, similar to the Victorian one of #MilkMo where superstars, politicians and celebrities are sharing their milk moustaches. There should be co-investment with major suppliers such as Murray Goulburn and the bringing forward of infrastructure projects which would lead to value-added products.

The idea I really want to talk about is one from Kevin Domaschenz, who discussed this with me over the weekend in a fine establishment, and that is of reintroducing free milk in primary schools. We could go back to milk monitors. Some would remember the aluminium foil on top of the milk bottles. When you put a straw through, you would have a layer of cream. What free milk in South Australia primary schools would do is increase the consumption of milk.

Time expired.