Perin Davey (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let's make no mistake: the farmers who are here and outside protesting today are not here protesting just about dairy. They are protesting about the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, which was drafted and developed by the Labor Party. When you talk to the farmers, they will say there was a decided lack of consultation in developing the Basin Plan. They're also protesting about the impact of buybacks. Buybacks were a Labor Party policy which our government has capped. That's what those farmers out there are protesting about. Let's not conflate the two issues.

We know we are consulting on the mandatory dairy code of conduct. We were asked to consult. We did consultations in the drafting phase. We released the exposure draft and we consulted again. We are collating the feedback because no-one wants a poorly drafted policy—that can be much worse than no policy at all. We are making sure we get this policy right, based on our consultations and based on feedback from the industry. Senator Green says she's consulted with Queensland dairy farmers. Congratulations to her. But Senator McKenzie, the agriculture minister, is the Minister for Agriculture across the whole of Australia, not just for Queensland dairy farmers. Make no mistake: there is not wide-reaching support for a floor price, which is the Labor Party policy. They are working with Senator Hanson to ensure they get their policy put through. We will not accept that. We listen to the broader industry.

I have feedback from the New South Wales Farmers Federation dairy committee just today, which says they support investigation into a regional floor price and they support the current Senate inquiry that is underway because that gives them the opportunity to participate in the process. They have concerns on the model as proposed by Senator Hanson and they believe it needs further investigation. That is what we on this side are doing, and we are working with industry to make sure that we get the mandatory code of conduct as recommended by the ACCC in place, right and operational as quickly as possible.

So for the Labor Party to say that we have turned our backs on dairy farmers is completely offensive and completely incorrect. We on this side are the ones sitting at the table with the dairy farmers from across all states to find out exactly what they want, to address their concerns in our mandatory code of conduct, to get the mandatory code of conduct in place and then to further discuss with them how we can support their industry going forward, including by looking at divestiture powers for supermarkets to see if that's required, if that will provide a better and more competitive marketplace, so that our farmers get paid appropriate prices for their produce. Let me make it clear: it was not consumers who demanded $1-a-litre milk; it was the big retailers who decided that consumers would want $1-a-litre milk. It was the big retailers who undermined the value of our high-quality agricultural produce and that's where we need to address our attention.

In the next year, we in the National Party will be making sure that we have a thorough look at our retailers, their market powers and, if action needs to be taken to make it a better and fairer operating environment for our producers as well as our processors and the retailers, then we will take that action. We do support our agricultural industries, all of them—our beef producers, our dairy producers and our croppers—and that's why we've got the Water for Fodder program out today, to get some water out there so that farmers can produce fodder, because this drought is ongoing. This drought is crippling across the board. We want to stand with our farmers, support our farmers and do what we can to not undermine property rights, and that will be the right decision for agriculture. (Time expired)