The delayed Mandatory Code of Conduct is too little, too late for too many dairy farmers, hundreds of whom have already been forced out the industry, says the Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Joel Fitzgibbon.
“It’s been three-and-a-half years since the Murray Goulburn debacle and 20 months since the ACCC recommended a Code of Conduct,” said Mr Fitzgibbon. “National Party in-fighting has delayed its arrival again and again and many dairy farmers have been forced to sign contracts before the code comes into effect because of the go-slow attitude by this third-term Liberal/National Government.
“Standing alone, the Code of Conduct will not address the industry’s structural problems. The long-awaited Code attempts to address the farmer-processor power imbalance, but it doesn’t deal with the farm gate milk price issue which is driving dairy farmers to the wall.
“It’s been twenty months since the ACCC recommended a mandatory industry Code of Conduct for the dairy industry, and the Minister’s release today is a case of better late than never,” said Mr Fitzgibbon, of the Code which is expected to come into effect on January 1, 2020. “However, the Code does not address the core issue for many dairy farmers, and that is the ability to get a farm gate price for their product, which provides them with a fair income stream.
“Regardless of the Code, farm costs will remain high and milk prices stubbornly low in the absence of meaningful Government intervention. Only a guaranteed price for farmers will save our farmers. The Code is welcomed by Labor and by the industry, but standing alone, it’s not enough.”