A NSW dairy lobby group is calling for the urgent introduction of a dairy levy on retail milk.
Dairy Connect chief executive officer Shaughn Morgan said it was time to seriously consider a levy to stop the exodus of dairy farmers leaving the industry.
The call follows a proposal put by Victorian businessman John Dahlsen for a 40-cent a litre levy on the price of milk in supermarkets.
The ABC reported last week that Mr Dahlsen, who is chair of the JC Dahlsen Group and has served on the Woolworths and ANZ boards, had written a letter to Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud outlining his proposal for the levy to be collected by an independent entity and paid back to farmers.
Mr Morgan said a dairy levy was not new.
An 11c/l levy was applied to dairy beverages in 1999 as part of deregulation of the industry.
Former Australian Competition and Consumer chairman Professor Allan Fells called for the reintroduction of the 11c/l late last year.
Dairy Connect president Graham Forbes said a levy of some form needed to be considered by government and dairy industry players.
"We must not allow overseas dairy imports to replace natural dairy produce and nutritious fresh milk", he said.
A levy had been effective in providing support to dairy farmers as shown by the introduction of the 'drought levy'.
Mr Morgan called on Mr Littleproud to convene a roundtable of industry leaders and stakeholders to reach consensus on a sustainable retail price for fresh milk.
"The industry needs a political outreach program that dairy farmers, industry bodies and supermarkets can respond to urgently," he said.
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