The federal government has announced a huge assistance package for the dairy industry, including $555m of concessional loans, as farmers face hardship after cuts in the milk price.
Labor’s agriculture spokesman, Joel Fitzgibbon, said on Wednesday that Labor would not stand in the way of the package but it fell “well short of what farmers need right now”.
In a joint statement the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, and the human services minister, Alan Tudge, said help was needed because “Australian dairy farmers have had their incomes retrospectively cut by dairy processors Murray Goulburn and Fonterra”.
In April Murray Goulburn and Fonterra cut their farm gate prices for the previous 11 months, leaving dairy farmers owing thousands of dollars each.
Victorian dairy farmers have faced milk solids price cuts from as much as $6/kg down to as low as $4.70/kg.
Joyce said on 1 August the repayment rate for loans would be set as low as 2.66%, down from the current 2.71%.
“Farmers will be able to borrow $1m or half of what they owe which, whichever is the lesser, so they can assist themselves to get through this current crisis,” he said.
The other elements are: $20m to fast track the upgrade of the Macalister irrigation district; $2m to establish a commodity milk price index; $900,000 for nine financial counsellors in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales; and $900,000 for an existing dairy industry business skills program.
Joyce said: “I was pleased to meet dairy farmers in Victoria last week and the Coalition wants to send a clear message that the Coalition stands shoulder to shoulder with them.”
He said the commodity price index would help ensure dairy processors do not unexpectedly reduce farm gate milk prices late in the season.
“The index would introduce greater transparency and market signals in domestic and global milk prices,” he said. “The Coalition will consult with the industry on the design of the index that would provide dairy farmers with valuable information for use in supply negotiations with processors and to assist in following international price trends.”
Joyce said the Macalister project would upgrade the 1920s and 1950s-era Southern-Tinamba area irrigation network, delivering almost 10 gigalitres in water savings which can be put back into increasing the region’s agricultural production.
Tudge said the Coalition was taking immediate action to ensure eligible dairy farmers have fast-tracked access to the support they need to get through the tough times.
“We’ve ramped up the number of staff processing farm household allowance claims,” he said. “An extra 18 people have been brought in to process claims and to work directly with farming families on their individual cases, with a special focus on people in financial hardship.”
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/may/25/barnaby-joyce-announces-dairy-assistance-package-after-cuts-to-milk-price