The Australian Greens today welcomed the referral of the current milk discounting controversy to the Senate Economics Committee, following a motion by Senators Xenophon, Colbeck and Milne, but warned that this inquiry must deliver for dairy farmers or risk undermining confidence in the parliament.
Immediately after voting to support this inquiry, the Coalition joined the government in voting down a Greens motion calling on the government to reinstate the anti-price discrimination provisions in the Competition and Consumer Act, as recommended by all members of the previous Senate Inquiry into milk pricing.
“Dairy farmers will be increasingly troubled by the emerging pattern of Senate Inquiries making supportive recommendations and then being completely ignored,” Australian Greens Deputy Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.
“What is particularly worrying is that today both the government and Opposition voted against implementing a recommendation from a previous inquiry that they both supported at the time.
“The time for talk is over. It’s time Australia’s dairy farmers saw something being done to protect their livelihoods.
“Dairy farmers and many others across the country will lose confidence in the parliament if it keeps talking the talk but failing to walk the walk on critical issues from addressing the failure of national competition policy to closing the loophole in the Competition and Consumer Act that gives the Coles and Woolworths duopoly such power over producers.
“I look forward to this latest Senate Inquiry and will continue to hold the government and Opposition to account if they once again fail to implement its findings.”
