Federal Member for Wright, Scott Buchholz has today welcomed Woolworths decision to dump $1/ litre milk.
Mr Buchholz said $1/ litre milk has undermined the long term sustainability of our dairy industry and commercial viability of local farms for far too long.
“Since the introduction of $1/ litre milk in 2011 the number of dairy farmers Queensland has contracted.
“In 2000 there were 1,545 dairy farms in Queensland, now down to less than 393 today, Mr Buchholz said.
“This is a direct result of $1/ litre milk and the processors using their bargaining power to drive down what they in turn pay farmers for milk at the farm gate,
“Woolworths have today taken a big first step this morning by moving on from $1/ litre milk in support of our dairy farmers and I thank Woolworths for this”
“It is now time for Coles and Aldi to do the same and for the processors to be honest and transparent about their dealings with dairy farmers – my dairy farmers can no longer afford to supply milk at prices below the cost of production.
“I encourage all residents to buy their milk from the retailers, like Woolworths who support our local dairy farmers, or better yet branded local milk.
“I would also like to commend the Queensland Dairy Organisation for their advocacy and work with the Federal Government to support the industry in Queensland.
Scott Buchholz said while the Government has no mechanism to control milk prices, the Liberal National Government is working to put an environment in place to support the industry through a mandatory code of conduct for the industry.
“A mandatory code will help to address the current power imbalance between dairy farmers and processors, which was a key finding of the recent ACCC dairy inquiry”
“The final code is expected to be completed and approved by the Parliament in the first quarter of 2019” Mr Buchholz said.
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