The senate inquiry into milk pricing will travel to Mt Gambier next month and Warrnambool in May to hear from dairy farmers about the state of the sector.
South Australian Dairyfarmers Association president John Hunt has been one of the key opponents to Senator Hanson’s bid to re-regulate the sector, two decades after the Howard Government dismantled the floor price.
Mr Hunt told The Weekly Times SADA represented the majority view within the sector in his state.
“It’s good the Senate inquiry and the senators themselves are coming to country SA and country Victoria. They’ll be able to hear the views of dairy farmers directly,” he said.
“There’s been grubby politics from some over trying to split SADA from its membership. We are all dairy farmers. We all get up at four in the morning, we all want a fair price for our milk. There’s no point in politicians trying to divide the sector.”
Farmer Power chief executive Garry Kerr encouraged Victorian dairy farmers to attend the May 8 session in Warrnambool. A specific venue is yet to be announced.
“As soon as a venue is announced, we’ll let every farmer know because we need as many farmers there as possible,” he said. “This is the biggest opportunity we’ve had in years to give the average dairy farmer a fair go.”
With a long list of functions cancelled due to the international coronavirus outbreak this week, the Senate inquiry sessions were still scheduled to go ahead, although this could be subject to change.
