Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Hanson, and thank you for your advocacy for dairy farmers. Like you, the National Party and the Liberal Party are strong supporters of the dairy industry and the 5,699 dairy farmers that are right around our country. Ninety-eight per cent of our dairy farms are family owned and operated, and making sure they're sustainable going forward, making a profit at the farm gate, is exactly what we're focused on doing. That is why we committed to introduce a dairy code of conduct. That is why that code has gone out for consultation twice already. That is why I am right now getting the exposure draft completed: so it can go out for its third and final consultation prior to the end of the year, we can get it instilled in regulation and give our dairy farmers the security they need when negotiating contracts with processors.

As I've travelled round the country, one thing about the dairy industry is that it is very different in different states. In WA, for instance, I, with Nola Marino, met with dairy farmers last week. They are hurting because they don't have the competition in processors to actually get a decent price for their milk. But, Senator Hanson, we also need to make sure that profitability is through the system, so we're getting the dairy code of conduct up and running. We've got other measures to help them. We standardised contracts to actually give them financial and legal advice through Dairy Australia and be able to get a level of expertise so that, when they are negotiating a contract with a processor, they've got the support that they need. They're very good at producing milk and sometimes they need those additional skills to get the right price. We're also, though, addressing energy and fodder and water costs because those are also the input costs that are affecting the ongoing profitability of the dairy sector. But what the dairy farmers need is competition for their product.