Bob Katter on dairy deregulation’s long Queensland shadow

Bob Katter says a quarter-century on from deregulation, Queensland dairy farmers are still feeling the pinch.

Deregulation of Australia’s dairy industry has meant the degradation of Queensland’s dairy sector, maverick crossbench MP Bob Katter says.

The domestic market-focused state was always the least supportive region for up-ending the sector at the time of the 1999-2000 changes instigated by the Howard Government.

Mr Katter left the National Party over deregulation and said continued low pricing of generic supermarket milk was the latest existential threat to farmers.

“The supporters of deregulation said dairy farmers would be fine. But look at Queensland, the number of farmers has been decimated. There’s only a couple of hundred left,” he said.

More than 3000 dairy farmers operated across Queensland in 1980, with that figure around 2000 at the time of deregulation two decades ago.

Contraction of Queensland’s dairy market continues unabated with 475 farms registered in 2014, now down to less than 280 farmers as of the most recent reporting period.

Mr Katter said low prices paid at the farmgate this month “was the latest chapter in the long-running horror story of deregulation”.

“Of the farmers that are left, they’ve been held to ransom with the outrageous prices paid for milk at the supermarket,” Mr Katter said.

“A deregulated dairy industry has meant the farmer is being paid peanuts. Sometimes there’s a good year but most have been bad and this is the latest.”

Up until 2000, Australia’s dairy industry was regulated by state governments to ensure a year-round supply of drinking milk for consumers that met a set of standards.

The regulations meant state governments controlled the drinking milk market, including volume and price, while the federal government oversaw the farmgate price of ‘manufacturing milk’ used in bulk products like powdered milk.

Milking 230 Brown Swiss cattle at Dayboro, 45 kilometres north of Brisbane, eastAUSmilk president Joe Bradley has worked as a Queensland dairy farmer for five decades.

“If the numbers are anything to go by, deregulation wasn’t just bad for Queensland. It was bad for every state,” Mr Bradley said.

“Just look at the figures — we’ve got a national milk pool in free fall from 11 million litres now down to 8 million litres and we’re importing hundreds of tonnes of cheese and butter.”