Retailer Gerry Harvey has dismissed proposals to impose a consumer levy on milk as a way to help struggling dairy farmers and said the price should be left up to market forces.
As the Australian reports, Harvey’s interest in the recent decisions of Fonterra and Murray Goulburn to slash farmgate milk prices stems from the fact that he himself owns a dairy farm and that his retail company Harvey Norman last year purchased a 49.9 per cent stake in Goulburn Valley dairy farm.
Referring to the levy proposal which has been suggested by advocacy group Farmer Power and others, Harvey told the Australian, “In theory it might sound nice but in practice it generally either ends up in tears, or you wish you hadn’t done, there are not many instances in the last 100 years where that sort of activity took place that has longevity or success.’’
The Government has no plans to adopt a levy, however as AAP reports, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce announced assistance measures for dairy farmers.
The plan includes offering concessional loans, based largely on the existing drought assistance scheme; prioritising their access to welfare support, and increasing rural financial counselling services.
While, the Labor Party supported the assistance measures, Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon described them as “vague” and said the Government had been slow to act on the crisis.