EastAUSmilk presents to the Senate
After eastAUSmilk made a submission to the Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices, we were invited to make an in-person submission to their public hearings. The Senate Committee was established by The Greens to look at market concentration, competition, prices and margins, and frameworks to protect suppliers. These are obviously of great interest to our members.
eastAUSmilk President Joe Bradley spoke with the Committee by phone link on 13 March, and it was clear Senators had read our submission, and had many questions for Joe about the issues raised in our submission, and other submissions.
We also provided the Committee with a copy of the submission eastAUSmilk made to the Emerson Review of the unenforceable and useless Food and Grocery Industry Code.
eastAUSmilk members know supermarkets have enormous influence on farmgate prices, which is why we have made submissions to several of these inquiries. It is clearly in the interests of eastAUSmilk members, and the dairy industry a whole, for the relationship between supermarkets, all of their suppliers, and the whole supply chain, to be cleaned up.
In our written submission and Joe’s evidence, we stressed the need for the Food and Grocery Industry Code to be made mandatory and for supply chain margins to be monitored, and Senators raised claims of intimidation of suppliers by supermarkets. eastAUSmilk’s submission to the Emerson Review addressed that issue extensively, because the more we talk with milk processors and other supermarket suppliers, the more they open up about their fear of ruining their businesses if they speak up themselves.
In many respects, our submissions to these reviews and inquiries speak on behalf of processors and others, because they don’t dare do so themselves. eastAUSmilk is doing their jobs for them, because getting these issues addressed is so important for the wellbeing of members and the future of the dairy industry.
Other topics covered in Joe’s discussion with the Senate Committee included the lack of competition in fresh food supply, the mental health impact on farmers of prolonged underpayment, the reducing milk pool and dairy herd, and supply chain unreliability vs. local sourcing.
Let’s see what the outcome is!
By Mike Smith, eastAUSmilk Government Relations Manager