Pauline Hanson secures Senate investigation of dairy industry
MEDIA RELEASE
A Senate investigation into the performance of Australia’s dairy industry since deregulation in 2000 has been secured by One Nation senator Pauline Hanson.
The Senate voted 33 to 28 in favour of Senator Hanson’s request for what will be a “very broad” inquiry into the industry.
The deregulation of the dairy industry was controversial almost two decades ago and unrest has never completely subsided over the ensuing years.
“The whole dairy industry has been a mess over recent years, and it really doesn’t look like getting much better on its own any time soon, so it is quite vital that we conduct this inquiry to identify and expose the problems, and introduce solutions,” Senator Hanson said.
“The inquiry will be very broad, focusing on industry management, profitability, funding and government support, regulation of farm gate prices, and other issues.”
The One Nation leader has been laser-focussed in her determination to have changes introduced to make sure the industry does not die and so Australia doesn’t become dependent on imported milk and dairy products.
“As I have said many times, we cannot allow our dairy industry to crumble to such desperate lows that farmers simply walk off the land or, worse still, resort to other drastic actions like suicide, which has occurred in an unacceptable number of cases,” Senator Hanson said.
“The fact that there has been little meaningful support from Government only makes the battle even more hopeless and lonely for many struggling dairy farmers.
“We need them to stay profitable, so they can keep producing milk and provide for their families, and to preserve their chosen way of life, which has been that way for generations.”
The inquiry will be conducted via the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee. It is scheduled to report back with its findings and recommendations in March 2020.
Topics included in Senator Hanson’s notice of motion, including an examination of the ability of Dairy Australia to act independently and support the interests of both farmers and processors, the accuracy of statistical data collected by Dairy Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the funding of Dairy Australia and its consultation and engagement on certain expenditures, the merits of tasking the ACCC to investigate how it can regulate the price of milk per litre paid by processors to dairy farmers to ensure a viable dairy industry, the introduction of a mandatory industry code of practice, and related matters.
Senator Hanson is encouraged that those and other matters will now be thoroughly investigated by the Parliament, to the benefit of the dairy industry and farmers.
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