Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note that it has been nearly six months now since the dairy industry, certainly throughout the Goulburn Valley, where many of the suppliers are supplying Murray Goulburn and Fonterra, has had its farm gate price reduced significantly. I would like to announce that Senator Bridget McKenzie will have a series of round tables with the dairy industry at a range of locations, namely: Tangambalanga in the northeast of Victoria; Congupna, my hometown in the Goulburn Valley; Morwell in Gippsland; and Camperdown in the southwest of Victoria.

The purpose of these meetings is going to be to hear the views of the farmers regarding the delivery of assistance measures that are in place in relation to the coalition government's $579 million assistance package that has been in place since this crisis struck the dairy industry. Senator McKenzie is going to be able to assist with these packages, because there have been some issues in relation to people accessing these assistance packages. However, we now know that $45 million in dairy low-interest concessional loans has been approved for Victorian dairy farmers. We now know that there are 378 Victorian dairy farmers receiving the farm household allowance, which is an allowance of just under $1,000 per couple per fortnight. Under the coalition government, we now have more than 567 concessional loans that have been approved for over 1,000 farm businesses Australia wide. It certainly is an example of where the coalition is getting this assistance out the door, hitting the ground and helping those farmers that are in need.

We would also like to acknowledge that this is going to be an opportunity for people to talk to Centrelink about further accessing these opportunities, and to talk to the Rural Bank about accessing the low-interest concessional loans. It will be an opportunity to understand that some of our input costs in the dairy industry are going to be much more positive looking forward into this summer and next year. Water availability is going to be up and the cost of temporary water is going to be down. There is going to be a lot of feed around the regions and farmers will have their own feed. Grain prices are looking to be much lower than they were last year and there seems to be an overall steady increase in the world price of milk and milk products.

So, whilst there are many people still out there who are doing it incredibly tough, the Australian government is there with them every step of the way. This is why Senator McKenzie is holding these round tables: to make sure that people know about and get help with the various assistance packages that are available. However, there is still a very positive light in the future of the dairy industry.