VFF exodus: UDV leaders resign in anger and frustration

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria president Mark Billing and most of his policy council have resigned. Here’s why.

Larpent dairy farmer Mark Billing has resigned as UDV president to form Dairy Farmers Victoria: Nicole Cleary

The leadership of the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria has resigned en masse, in frustration at what they say are the ongoing failures of the Victorian Farmers Federation to staff and fund their commodity group.

UDV president Mark Billing and nine of his fellow policy councillors have resigned to form the new lobby group, Dairy Farmers Victoria.

Mr Billing said the group had held off launching DFV for weeks, in the hope the VFF leadership would listen to their pleas for more of the $950,000 in dairy farmer levies to go to dairy advocacy and for greater co-operation on engaging members.

“We gave them ample opportunity to talk, but they wouldn’t sit down with us (policy council),” Mr Billing said.

He said they got nowhere and were sick of “belting our heads against a brick wall”.

Mr Billing and other policy councillors officially launched Dairy Farmers Victoria this week, with a website that was due to go live Tuesday morning, where farmers could fill out membership forms to join for $500 per business.

“We already have some of the key people, who are influential in their regions,” Mr Billing said.

Even with just 41 founding members, Mr Billing said DFV already had more funding available to them than the $10,000 a year the VFF provided to the UDV.

“We have been buoyed by the level of support across the industry that we have received over the past weeks as discussions regarding the establishment of Dairy Farmers Victoria deepened,” Mr Billing said.

“Over two-thirds of the issues and concerns raised by dairy farmers are primarily related to the dairying sector, and we need to be able to take up these issues and concerns without being shackled or restrained.”

The VFF responded by stating the “action by some VFF-UDV Councillors has shown that the issue of the control of the use of resources has become more important to them than working collaboratively within the VFF to achieve favourable policy outcomes for

dairy members”.

The VFF has also asked dairy farmers to complete a two-question survey asking: “Do you think VFF UDV should be the preferred advocacy group for state based dairy industry specific policy and advocacy services for members?”

DFV’s launch follows the resignation of three VFF directors in July, cuts to commodity staff and the rollout of proposals for radical constitutional reforms that neuter dairy, grains and livestock groups.

Grain growers have also led a bid to oust VFF president Emma Germano and vice-president Danyel Cucinotta, after the VFF board voted to cash out the Grains Group’s $9.8 million Deed Poll to pay off so it could pay off $3.01 million it had borrowed from Credit Suisse and another $1.7 million towards $5.15 million it had borrowed from Westpac.

The VFF board has now twice rejected attempts by up to 255 members to call an extraordinary general meeting to oust Ms Germano and Ms Cucinotta.