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The Hon. Dr A. CHESTERFIELD-EVANS [11.40 p.m.]: I wish to refer to the effects of dairy deregulation on New South Wales dairy farmers. Yesterday was a national day of action by the Australian Milk Producers Association [AMPA]. Dairy farmers in New South Wales and Queensland picketed Woolworths stores in regional areas of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland in protest against the cut in price offered to milk producers. The Australian Democrats support and acknowledge AMPA's action and support its demand for a fairer and reasonable price for its produce. Three months ago processors offered New South Wales dairy producers 37¢ per litre for market milk. Last week Dairy Farmers cut the price offered to producers to as low as 32¢ per litre. It is a disgrace!
The Democrats opposed dairy deregulation because the only stakeholders to benefit from it would be the processors and retailers, not the dairy farmers and the local communities. Unfortunately, our suspicions have been confirmed. I find it ironic that some members of the National Party, a party that claims to represent the interests of primary producers and rural communities, have been urging their constituents in the local media to buy milk from local co-operatives, instead of major retail chain stores, when it was the National Party and its Coalition partner, the Liberals, who went along with deregulation in New South Wales. The Coalition demanded an additional $80 million from the State Government to assist dairy farmers in the structural adjustment of their industry. We said that that was not necessarily enough.
When they received a letter from the Minister for Agriculture assuring them that a committee would be established to look into the financial effects of deregulation, they eventually backed down from their demand for an additional $80 million. If the crossbenchers did that, we would be laughed at and regarded as naive and stupid. I hope that voters of regional New South Wales at the next election will realise who best represents the bush. We believe that we do a better job than the Coalition. I note from a report on ABC news of Tuesday 10 October that the New South Wales Government will make $500,000 available to the State's dairy committees to help them adjust to deregulation of the industry. The Minister for Regional Development, Harry Woods, said that the Government recognised the difficult times dairy farmers are going through since the July deregulation. He said that funds from the regional economic transition scheme would help them adapt to the major changes. I ask you: $500,000 in a crisis like this? It is a joke!