SOUTH Australian Dairyfarmers Association president John Hunt said he does not support re-regulation of the dairy industry following One Nation leader Pauline Hanson calling for a urgent action in the sector.
Ms Hanson has argued re-regulation would give farmers a floor milk price and more bargaining power with retail giants such as Coles and Woolworths.
Mr Hunt said deregulation in 2000 had opened the export market for the sector.
He said re-regulation would do more harm than good.
“Re-regulation will have an impact on our free trade agreements,” he said.
“Why we have free trade agreements at the moment is because we are an unregulated industry – when you want to export you do need to have that.
“If you are a fully domestic industry, it is a different story. ”
Mr Hunt also warned if the industry was regulated, supermarkets would move away from Australian-made dairy.
“You have got to be careful because if you regulate and you set a price and you say ‘right, we want this and that is it’, then supermarkets will just import from where they can get it cheaper,” he said.
“We really need to have a better focus on buying Australian made to give consumers the option.
“It could cause a lot of hassle for us.”
Although the dairy industry has struggled in recent years, strategies are being put in place to change it.
“There is a lot of good work going on in the dairy industry at the moment around research and development and advocacy,” Mr Hunt said.
“We have the Australian Dairy Plan, which saw all farmers consulted about what they want for the industry and what needs to
change.
“The industry is not broken, we just need to take the right steps to make it more cohesive, like we are with the plan.
“One of our biggest issues in the industry is the drought – and you cannot buy rain – we just need time and moisture to change that.”
