A year to the day since the milk pricing crisis began, Katter’s Australian Party Member for Dalrymple Shane Knuth has called on the Federal Opposition leader to put his money where his mouth is and push Queensland Labor to support the KAP’s Fair Milk Price Logos Bill.
A year ago today, Murray Goulburn slashed farm gate milk prices, crippling an already flailing dairy industry.
In a press conference today, when quizzed on the Federal Government’s response to the dairy industry crisis, Bill Shorten said: “Our dairy farmers have seen the prices that they pay for the work going down, it’s meant to go up.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that despite what the Government has said, when it comes to actions, they’ll always back the big business against the little guy, against the farmers every time; they’ve been selling out the farmers. A year later, this is just a debacle.”
“What hypocrisy. This is the same Labor party that won’t support KAP’s Fair Milk Price Logos Bill.
“I completely agree with Mr Shorten that this is a debacle and I challenge him to do something about farmers being sold out.
“The Queensland Labor Government has the power to do something about this ‘debacle’, so do it. Support KAP’s Fair Milk Price Logos Bill. If you won’t get your Queensland Premier to support this bill, I, and the dairy industry, want to know why not.”
The Bill creates a voluntary scheme where a milk processor can choose to place a logo on a milk container identifying where the milk was produced and whether the dairy farmers were paid a fair price.
The Bill also establishes a way to determine what a fair and sustainable price is.
“At a protest march last year in front of Parliament House, Labor and the LNP put their hands on their hearts and told the dairy farmers, ‘we’re with you’,” Mr Knuth said.
“Ever since then, they’ve been dodging, weaving and hiding.
“It’s time to put politics aside and work together to pass this bill to give the dairy industry some relief.”
Since the year 2000, Mr Knuth said the Queensland dairy industry had lost an average of 70 dairy farmers a year.
Earlier this month, the Agriculture and Environment Committee handed down its report on the Fair Milk Price Logos Bill, recommending it not be passed.
“The reasons for rejecting it had no merit or substance whatsoever,” Mr Knuth said.