Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. The minister would be aware of a letter dated 6 March 2000—and I will seek to table it—which states, ‘The current milk price of 59c after deregulation will be 41c.’ Within two years of dairy deregulation, an Australian farmer was committing suicide every four days. Consumers did not escape either—retail prices ‘greedied up’ to 41c, with ‘piggy in the middle’ taking an extra $1 billion a year. Currently, Coles and Woolworths are offering milk at $1. This is facilitated by parties slaughtering farm prices down to 47c in North Queensland and less elsewhere. Minister, don’t these realities prove that advocates for the free market in this place are loathsome hypocrites and that those parading themselves as Santa Claus have done so quite literally over the dead bodies of Australian farmers?

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