Federal National Party Leader Warren Truss [pictured] was the Federal Agriculture Minister from 1999 until 2005.
One of the first things Truss did in his 6 year stint as Ag minister was to deregulate the Australian Dairy industry in July 2000.
At the time we had 11,839 Australian dairy farming families milking 2.176 million cows and exporting 56% of our milk.
After 8 years of a deregulated milk market we have just 8,055 dairy farming families, milking 1.8 million dairy cows and exporting just 50% of our production.
In 2000 the 11,839 Australian dairy farmers on average were just profitable. In 2007 the 8,055 remaining dairy farmers had an average loss of $75,000 for the year.
Since deregulation of the milk market in July 2000 a third of all dairy farming businesses have left the industry.
Registered Dairy farms by State to 2007. There will be less now, for example it is estimated Queensland dairy farmer numbers today would be closer to 600 than 700.
| NSW | VIC | QLD | SA | WA | TAS | TOTAL | |
| 2000/01 | 1,391 | 7,559 | 1,305 | 587 | 359 | 638 | 11,839 |
| 2001/02 | 1,323 | 7,079 | 1,152 | 538 | 344 | 612 | 11,048 |
| 2002/03 | 1,290 | 6,801 | 1,125 | 516 | 324 | 597 | 10,654 |
| 2003/04 | 1,096 | 6,242 | 967 | 458 | 305 | 543 | 9,611 |
| 2004/05 | 1,063 | 6,108 | 885 | 402 | 278 | 507 | 9,243 |
| 2005/06 | 1,024 | 5,892 | 802 | 383 | 245 | 498 | 8,844 |
| 2006/07 | 924 | 5,346 | 734 | 354 | 222 | 475 | 8,055 |
| # Left Industry | 467 | 2,213 | 571 | 233 | 137 | 163 | 3,784 |
| % Who Left | 34% | 29% | 44% | 40% | 38% | 26% | 32% |
At last though farmers that supply National Foods, the Diary farmers brand can do a bit of celebrating.
CHAMPAGNE in relatively small bottles is not the usual drink Ray Gresham produces on his Kybong (just South of Gympie QLD) dairy farm. Usually it’s milk in very large bulk tanker loads.
But yesterday, the new generation dairy industry leader had no trouble producing a bottle of champagne.
He did so to mark what he says is the best news Australia’s dairy industry has had in many years, or maybe ever - the overwhelming 96 per cent vote by Dairy Farmers producers to approve the takeover of their co-operative by National Foods.
National Foods this week announced that 96% of ACF members had approved the National Foods proposal to sell the 108 year old Dairy Farmers co-op to Giant Japanese brewer Kirin for $5.65 a share. The sale will represent a cash windfall for some Dairy Farmers members.
Kybong Dairy farmer Ray Gresham is now optimistic about the future.
No more, he says, will three processors compete with each other, using the farmer’s margins to do so.
This is the biggest thing - certainly the biggest positive thing - that’s happened for a long, long time.”
It’s a sad day when the ‘best thing that can happen’ to our dairy farmers is the sale of our Australian Farmer Owned Iconic Dairy Farmers to a giant Japanese corporation.
Australian dairy processing is now dominated by just two foreign owned global manufactures, the giant Japanese owned Kirin and the giant Italian owned Parmalat.
Warren Truss can look back at the devastation he has reeked upon the Australian dairy industry with some pride.
In just 8 years his deregulation / free market ideology has force one third of Australian dairy farmers out of the industry. Without even considering the havoc this has caused in small rural communities dependent on the industry we now have 3 million less dairy cows, produce less milk, export less milk product and have seen our processing sector rationalized down to 2 giant foriegn owned corporations.
Well done Warren, you can be proud of your achievements.
Have Your say!
17 November 2008
Agmates
Re Article -WT Can be Proud Of The Deregulated Australian Dairy Industry
Your claims that I, as Federal Agriculture Minister, deregulated the Australian dairy industry are inaccurate.
The dairy industry was regulated by the State Governments and it was the States which legislated to deregulate the industry. There was no Australian Government legislation to deregulate the dairy industry because the Australian government had no regulations to repeal.
There had never been an unfavourable finding against the dairy industry under the Commonwealth/State Competition Policy Agreement but, even if there had been, there were options available to the States other than total deregulation.
When it became clear to dairy industry leaders that the States were determined to proceed down a path of deregulation, they approached my predecessor as Federal Minister for Agriculture, and then me, to put in place a major adjustment package for the industry funded by a levy on milk sales. They approached the Commonwealth because under the Constitution only the Commonwealth government has the power to impose a levy of this nature.
I was assured by the industry that they were pressing the State Governments to pay compensation for the abolition of milk quotas and other industry losses. The State Governments had been paid millions of dollars by dairy farmers for these quotas, but in the end only the Western Australian Liberal-National Government offered any assistance and no farmer in any State was paid compensation for their abolished quotas. Almost $2 billion was paid to dairy farmers under the Commonwealth Dairy Industry Package, paid for by milk consumers through a levy on milk sales which will expire in a few months time.
While the Commonwealth’s dairy assistance package was supported by all sides of politics, there were many of my own colleagues who argued the Commonwealth should not provide the assistance package. They said because deregulation was a State issue and the package would erroneously give rise to arguments that it was the Commonwealth which was responsible for deregulation.
While that prediction has proved to be correct, I supported the package because I was sure that the States would do nothing to help the farmers they were hurting. I knew that many dairy farmers, particularly in Queensland and New South Wales, would be seriously affected by dairy deregulation through no fault of their own and that they would need substantial help to survive or adjust to a different lifestyle.
The $2 billion adjustment package remains the biggest single support program ever provided to an Australian primary industry. Had the package not been put in place, the States would still have proceeded with deregulation and the industry would have been $2 billion poorer.
Almost immediately following deregulation, the dairy industry was hit with the catastrophe of the worst drought our country has known. Drought has had an even bigger impact on dairy production, exports and profitability than deregulation - a fact emphasised by the decline in dairy farmer numbers in States like Victoria and Tasmania which were particularly advantaged by deregulation.
Yours sincerely
WARREN TRUSS MP
Federal Member for Wide Bay
Leader of The Nationals
G’day Warren,
Thank you for your response and efforts to clarify this matter.
My and the communities respect for you has just gone up a notch or two in that you have taken the time to personally put your side of the story on record here.
We have certainly given you as leader of the National Party and prior to that as minister for Trade & Agriculture in the coalition government a pillorying over a number of issues.
I am most impressed that even after that you have the grace and courage of conviction to respond as you have. I’m pleased that you realize that our criticism is not personal. It is and always will be at your policies and performance on behalf of the rural & regional people across Australia who look to you and the National party to represent their best interests.
I will publish your post as a full blown article on Agmates so all members of the community can read your clarification.
Going forward the Agmates online community are certainly open to you as leader of the Nationals and members of your party (some of who already do) keeping the Agmates community across Australia up to date with issues that affect rural & regional Australia.
Cheers - Agmates Founder Steve Truman
” When it became clear to dairy industry leaders that the States were determined to proceed down a path of deregulation ”
Yes I do believe there were extremely strong State and corporate forces specially in Victoria who were very determeined to push deregulation - and powerful board members were relentless in seeing it happen.
The small pig producers were similarly wiped out.
The 2006/ 2007 drought was terrible and nearly killed the lot of us but it was particularly hard on dairy farmers who had to buy in massive amounts of hay.
It would have been extremely hard for Mr Truss to stand against the very powerful corporate government (backed by corporate media ) de-regulation forces.
Hopefully with farmers and growers moving back onto boards the future for small to medioum farmers of the next generation will be better.
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I was alarmed and disappointed to hear of the sale of our Australian Farmer Owned Iconic Dairy Farmers to a giant Japanese corporation - I wish they would not have done that but people love their share price increasing and that is all they think of.
It is VERY alarming actually for our future food security.
Truss put dairying families and rural communities through trauma , depression and worse . Very often there appears to be no justice - our National Party leaders have let many wonderful farming men and women down very badly and they just get away with it. They must have no conscience.
Many of the small farmers of the world have been attacked and wiped out by the mindless greedy effects of global disaster capitalism/fascism.
Hopefully it won’t get any worse for farmers - low fuel prices and a low dollar and more rain around will all be POSITIVE.
I keep telling my husband and other farming men that they do a great job and to keep positive and we will beat the b#st#rds.
A lot of young farming people are out at Roma having a great time this week-end so things will be looking up for them in the future I’m sure.