Gippsland Jersey named the official milk of the Victorian parliament

Ever wondered how our politicians take their coffee? Well the “official milk of the Victorian parliament” has been announced.

Ever wondered how the politicians take their coffee?

Well, as of this week, the answer is with Gippsland Jersey milk.

Member for Gippsland East Tim Bull has been successful in getting the local milk to be the “official milk of the Victorian Parliament”.

He worked with Gippsland Jersey co-founder Sallie Jones to bring the milk to parliament.

“The Victorian parliament has an obligation, where possible, to stock Victorian producers,” he said.

“And I always try to make a point to promote produce from my area.”

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, has been successful in getting the local milk to be the official milk of the Victorian parliament. He is pictured with parliament worker Denise who is also coincidentally from Gippsland.

Ms Jones said parliament placed its first order this week and she hoped it would be a great support to their business.

“We are very excited to have them as a customer,” she said.

“I don’t want big companies running the food industry. It’s about buying from the bush.”

Gippsland Jersey is a milk company created from tragedy and hardship.

Friends Steve Ronalds and Ms Jones came together after tragedy struck both their families.

Steve Ronalds and Sallie Jones created Gippsland Jersey after tragedy struck both their families.

In 2015, a motorbike accident left Mr Ronalds nursing broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken shoulder blade, a punctured lung, and short-term memory loss.

Eventually he returned to his farm but was unable to milk cows for eight months.

The next year Ms Jones’ father, tragically took his own life in April at his dairy farm in Lakes Entrance.

Shortly after, major milk processor Murray Goulburn slashed the price it paid to farmers for their milk resulting in the milk crisis.

Mr Ronalds and Ms Jones came together to create Gippsland Jersey.

They source milk from smaller, family farms and pay farmers a “fair price for what they produce”.

Sallie Jones and Steve Ronalds with some of the Gippsland Jersey cows. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Gippsland Jersey also has a big focus on mental health and suicide prevention, performing random acts of kindness around the community such as sending farmers away on family getaways and paying for milkers to come in and run their farms.

Mr Bull was proud to be able to bring the Gippsland Jersey name back to the big stage.

“They were in there previously but then they got replaced,” he said.

“So, it is wonderful to advocate for a local business at such a big level.”

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, has been successful in getting the local milk to be the official milk of the Victorian parliament.

Gippsland Jersey milk is now reaching audiences Ms Jones “never dreamt of reaching”.

She said the dairy industry was declining for many reasons, the milk prices, it is better financially to raise beef, it’s an ageing profession, and the rise of alternative milks.

“It is just amazing the Victorian parliament and Tim have backed us, an authentic Aussie brand,” she said.

Mr Bull said parliament was a great place to have local products as the other parliamentarians provided a very “captive audience”.

“We sit for x amount of days and on those days we are locked up in there with very limited outside dining options,” he said.

Gippsland Jersey milk.

All food in the Victorian parliament and where it is from is listed on the menu, serving as another avenue of promotion for those brands.

However, Mr Bull was concerned the milk wouldn’t be listed on the menu as no one “orders just milk” so he “rocked up to parliament” to let everyone know Gippsland Jersey was there. He snapped a photo and it has since garnered lots of support.

“I wanted to let everyone know that this is the milk they are having when they have their coffee or their porridge in the morning, anything that has milk in it,” he said.

Sallie Jones runs Gippsland Jersey and is a powerhouse in the dairy industry, having just opened a new processing plant in East Gippsland.

Ms Jones said it was great the conversation about coffee in parliament can now also include talking about the milk, not just the beans.

“You always talk about the beans but coffee is 85 per cent milk, it’s the other half of the story,” she said.

“I hope the Victorian parliament enjoy their coffee a little bit more now.”