Dairy voices being silenced as big producers have all the say

The Australian dairy levy poll is no longer fit for purpose, argues Bernhard Lubitz.

Grassroots opposition: Family dairy farms are disappearing, replaced by a small number of much bigger farms that now control voting in the levy poll. Picture: Zoe Phillips

ARE all farmers voices being heard effectively and fairly?

It is now 20 years since Dairy Australia was formed and the dairy levy-funding poll implemented as a way of funding Dairy Australia and reviewing that funding every four years.

The dairy industry has evolved and changed radically since deregulation.

What was a balanced cohort of farm sizes and milk volumes and by state industry size and regions is no longer the case.

The levy poll is frozen in time and represents an industry and farmers that no longer exists.

Twenty years ago, when the levy poll was created, farm size was much more evenly distributed in the Australian milk pool and the liquid milk states had many more farms and higher percentage of the total Australian milk pool.

Deregulation and $1 milk has radically altered the dairy landscape.

We have lost many family farms and the liquid milk states have severely contracted and lost milk volume.

This industry contraction has led to a situation that now 20 per cent of the farmers produce 80 per cent of the milk.

That’s about 500 farmers controlling 80 per cent of all eligible votes in the levy poll.

What I am wanting to highlight is the fact that if the other 80 per cent of farmers controlling only 20 per cent of the total Australian milk pool want change, their voices will never be heard in a balanced way as was envisaged when the levy poll was deigned and implemented. It means 4500 farmer voices and views are now irrelevant to the process.

If the industry contracts any more we could easily get to a situation of 10 per cent of farmers controlling 80 per cent of the milk or more.

This is not healthy for the industry.

This voting biases that has accrued since deregulation and the near virtual collapse of the liquid milk states dairy industry also further diminishes those states’ effective voting strength and voice in the levy poll process

As a side note this same voting bias is also now prevalent in the Dairy Australia board voting process and Dairy Australia is well aware of this and uses it to its advantage when directors are selected and voted on.

In the last four years on average only 150 farmers voted on the Dairy Australia board election process. Eighty per cent of farmers have absolutely no impact on the voting process for the board positions

I would like to suggest it’s time for a full review of this process and the legislation relating to the levy poll.

I think it would also be wise to inform the levy poll independent chair of this fact as the committee could discuss this as part of the levy poll process and present a report to the agriculture minister as part of the levy poll review.

And with the industry currently going through the last stage of the Australian dairy plan process and advocacy restructure, would it not be prudent to defer the levy poll by 12 months until this process is finished and then they could review the levy poll structure decide if its still fit for purpose?

Dairy Australia is in a sound financial position and would not be affected by this delay.

The voting process for both Dairy Australia and the levy poll must be changed for the sake of the industry’s long-term future.

Bernhard Lubitz is a Leongatha dairy farmer

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