Prime Minister Scott Morrison says there is no 'silver bullet' to fixing the issues in the dairy industry that helps both consumers and farmers.
...without a strong agriculture sector, we can’t have a strong Australia.
- Scott Morrison
"I know there’s many dairy farmers amongst the thousands of families at breaking point we’re supporting in the face of recent droughts in particular," Mr Morrison said. "They remain my top priority because without a strong agriculture sector, we can’t have a strong Australia."
The Land went direct to Mr Morrison's office this week and extended Belmore River dairy farmer Sue McGinn's invitation for him to visit a dairy farm to see why 10 cents per litre matters.
Mrs McGinn put the invitation to Agriculture Minister David Littleproud last week when he visited her dairy.
In response, Mr Morrison said he was happy to meet with farmers and would continue to rely on Mr Littleproud for regular feedback on issues being faced with the dairy industry.
As treasurer, Mr Morrison said he appointed Mick Keogh as Agriculture Commissioner to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), to deal with competition and unfair trading issues in agricultural supply chains, including for the dairy industry.
The ACCC report found no evidence that supermarket pricing, including $1/litre milk, had a direct impact on farmgate prices.
"Last year, at my direction, the ACCC looked at the competitiveness of prices, trading practices and the supply chain in the dairy industry," Mr Morrison said.
He said the ACCC report found there were a range of market failures in the sector resulting from the strong bargaining power imbalance and information asymmetry in farmer-processor relationships.
"The ACCC recommended a mandatory code of conduct, which farmers have asked for and my Government is now delivering," he said.
