Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Before we adjourned on this Dairy Produce Amendment (Dairy Service Levy Poll) Bill 2016 some time ago, I was talking about the incredible contribution of the dairy industry to my home state and to our economy.

In fact, our dairy industry is the largest sector of our agricultural industry. I was saying that in 2011 the industry employed more than 2,000 Tasmanians—up by almost 10 per cent from five years ago. Year-on-year outcomes continue to be exemplary, and the potential for ongoing growth is excellent. In 2011 our dairy sector had a gross value of $802 million. Now it is estimated that the industry is worth more than $1 billion each year to the Tasmanian economy.

The growth of the Tasmanian dairy industry in recent years has been an exemplary success story, with Tasmanian milk accounting for around nine per cent of the entire national production in 2013-14. Over the past 10 years milk production in the Tasmanian dairy industry has continued to grow, while the national output has stalled or gone backwards. Tasmanian dairy producers have achieved a rise of 286 million litres of milk a year in the last decade, an impressive growth rate of around 34 per cent. In contrast, dairy farmers on the mainland have seen their production volumes fall by around nine per cent.

The dairy industry is also a key sector in the north-west of Tasmania, where I grew up and continue to live to this day. In the last financial year, Tasmanian milk production reached a record 886 million litres—a full 10 per cent increase over the previous year. Experts predict that it has the potential to grow to as much as 1½ billion litres a year.

In summary, we support the bill. It is good, industry-led reform that will reduce red tape and allow more money to be spent on vital research and development activity.