ADF court action: takes VFF to court to recover $500,000

Australian Dairy Farmers are taking the Victorian Farmers Federation to court to recover $500,000 in unpaid membership fees.

United Dairyfarmers president Bernie Free says VFF is trying to create a National Farmers Federation dairy committee to replace Australian Dairy Farmers.

Australia’s peak dairy farmer lobby has announced it will take legal action to recover $500,000 in unpaid membership fees from the Victorian Farmers Federation.

Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett said the lobby had been “very patient over the past 12 months”, as it tried to resolve the funding dispute via mediation and negotiation.

“(But) the parties are too far apart,” Mr Bennett said. “It has become apparent that the only way to resolve this matter will likely be via court action.”

Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett. Picture: Supplied

The VFF board has argued its dairy farmers were not getting value for money from the ADF, releasing a communique to members in August stating the dairy lobby was “the most expensive agricultural advocacy organisation for the VFF to be a member of at $344,000 (per year, plus GST.)”.

The relationship soured even further last November when the VFF pulled all eight of its nominees off the ADF national council, against the wishes of its own dairy arm, the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria.

The ADF has been left with just one Victorian, Mr Bennett, on its board, despite the state producing two-thirds of the nation’s milk, although 12 Victorians have been retained on its policy advisory groups.

UDV president Bernie Free said the VFF board’s decision to withhold funding and “grassroots representation from ADF was “not the way to negotiate”.

Mr Free said: “VFF has consistently desired to give ADF a haircut, while simultaneously working in the background with no mandate from UDV members to create a dairy committee under the NFF (National Farmers Federation) banner”.

Mr Bennett claimed the VFF had “encouraged Tasmania and NSW to look at an alternative to ADF”.

However VFF president Emma Germano said: “VFF hasn’t been trying to get anyone to do anything, other than (getting) ADF to propose a sustainable funding model”.

Emma Germano, Victorian Farmers Federation. Picture: Josie Hayden

NFF president David Jochinke said “we’ve not been approached” to form a dairy committee, and TasFarmers president Ian Sauer said there had been no debate on “getting rid of ADF”.

Mr Sauer said the only recent discussions had been between the NFF and state farmer organisations on the “large fees we pay peak bodies” and whether there “better ways” of managing the funding arrangements.

Meanwhile the VFF board is urging members to adopt a new constitution at its February 20 annual general meeting that would strip commodity groups of power and extend directors’ and the VFF president’s maximum term from four to six years.

Ms Germano confirmed that if passed the new constitution would allow her to stay on an extra 12 months beyond her current term as president, which is due to end in December.

“But I have no intention of staying on a further 12 months,” she said.

The VFF board said it notified ADF on October 29 that it would no longer pay fees under the current membership structure.

“After over 12 months of requests for negotiation by the VFF, the ADF made a membership fee offer to the VFF at 3:31pm on Friday 9 February 2024, that expired at midday on 12 February 2024, despite knowing the VFF Board will meet on Wednesday 14 February 2024,” the board said.

“The VFF will not comment on any prospective or threatened legal proceedings, but continues to consider the needs of all dairy farmers. The VFF is disappointed that the ADF is not negotiating in good faith.

“As it has for many years, the VFF continues to urge the ADF to implement a fair and sustainable membership funding model.”