Dairy News AUSTRALIA july 2013
14 // OPINION Ruminating
EDITORIAL
More red tape
milking it... Coles cops the heat - alone
We know there’s no love lost between Woolworths and Coles – but a recent decision by Woolies may have made the relationship that little bit frostier. Coles executive Damian Callachor attended the recent Victorian Farmers Federation conference, only to find Woolworths had declined the invitation. This left Mr Callachor as the only supermarket representative on a panel discussion about supermarket buying power. And do you think the farmers in attendance took pity on him? Well, you can probably guess the answer. Mr Callachor had to face some tough questioning from those hurt by the supermarkets’ treatment of its suppliers without anyone else to share the heat. Still, at least he had the gumption to turn up.
Ruddy lot to do
The country may have a newish Prime Minister in Kevin Rudd but it seems Labour has created too much bad will in the preceding six years to overcome. Take for example the $420 million Farm Finance Package announced on April 27 with much fanfare. We are friends of the farmers, former Ag Minister Joe Ludwig declared. Except, the Government failed to mention it was planning to capitalise on the scheme – by borrowing the money at about 3% and lending it to farmers at 4.5%. It’s a tidy little earner to the tune of $6.3 million a year. Can you blame them? We mean, they are cashstrapped. Why shouldn’t they make a quid off the farmers they said they would help? The Federal Government has traditionally passed the margin to its State and territory counterparts to administer the scheme, but in this case has told them to pay for the administration costs themselves. To make matters worse, the scheme has stalled until the deadlock is resolved.
Farewell Ludwig, hello Fitzgibbon
Very contented cows
For anyone concerned about Joel Fitzgibbon being handed the agriculture portfolio, let us reassure you with some quotes from the Prime Minister. Announcing Mr Fitzgibbon’s appointment, the PM said the new Agriculture Minister had spent “four years in Coventry’’ giving him time for reflection and deserved “a second chance’’. Hardly a ringing endorsement, we would have thought. Fitzgibbon was a former Defence Minister in the Rudd Government before he was forced to resign over undeclared gifts and a perceived conflict of interest involving meetings between an army general in charge of defence health services and his brother Mark Fitzgibbon, who was CEO of insurer NIB Health. Labor Ag Ministers always seem to see the portfolio as a stepping stone to us – Tony Burke a case in point. Let’s hope Fitzgibbon wants to make it his own – however long he has left.
Dairy farmers in the Indian state of Kerala have been recycling malted barley from breweries to feed their cows. Seems a majority of large dairy farmers in the state have included spent barley as a cattle feed of choice due to its low cost and high protein content. Farmers have reported getting about 30% more milk from this feed. Now, we all know happy cows are productive cows, so our question is: is that recycled barley really free of alcohol? If not, we can see a whole new product line being established by the likes of XXXX and CUB in Australia.
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We’ve said it before – farmers don’t receive much in the way of Government support, the very least the Government could do is not make things harder. This is exactly what they’ve done, of course, with changes to the 457 visa, which will make it even harder to fill the huge employment problems in the Australian dairy sector. Tougher laws restricting the use of skilled migrant workers on dairy farms may leave many farmers unable to fill vacancies. The new rules are forcing more regulations, paper work and costs on farmers, prompting fears they will abandon the scheme because it has become too hard. An already arduous task has been made more of a burden for an industry struggling to find suitable staff in the local market. Concerns centre around the increased onus on employers to prove they can’t find Australian staff, including new advertising and market testing requirements before sponsoring an overseas worker on a 457 visa, and more stringent training guidelines. We’ve lost track of the number of farmers we’ve spoken to who have tried to employ locals, only to have them not show up for the second day. Backpackers, especially those from countries with a strong dairy industry, are often excellent workers. However, after a 12 month maximum stay, they have to leave. More farmers are turning to the 457 option and it has just become more difficult. Our farmers don’t receive subsidies. In an ironic twist, just as the Australian government made it harder with their visa changes, US dairy farmers agreed to double the amount of money they provide to subsidise their dairy exports. This will be used to target the Asian market. The uneven playing field just skewed even more to the advantage of our competitors. The 457 visa amendment will disadvantage farmers who have a genuine need to seek overseas workers due to the lack of available local labour. At a time when there is a critical shortage of skilled dairy workers, the dairy industry heavily relies on skilled migration to bolster its workforce and help our farmers fill labour shortages. Instead of addressing farmers’ concerns and streamlining the application process, the Government’s changes will make an already challenging situation even more complex, placing an even greater workload on farmers and affecting health and wellbeing. Kevin, please, give the agricultural sector a break.
Editor Stephen Cooke 03.9478 9779 or 0427.124 437 editor@dairynewsaustralia.com.au Publisher Brian Hight 0408.558 938
Production Dave Ferguson Becky Williams Published by RNG Publishing Ltd Printed by PMP Print
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