Where are the leaders we need?

I FIND myself asking “Do our politicians really care about us?”

Dairy is one of the largest regional employers, yet our issues are simply seen as a political football to create media attention to sway well-meaning but not well-informed city voters.

Consider the hypocrisy of the federal Labor government of late.

In one corner we have the federal opposition agriculture spokesman telling us he genuinely cares about dairy farmers and their viability and wants to establish a floor price for the dairy industry.

In the other corner we have his colleague, the opposition water spokesman, wanting to buy back more water from dairy farmers as part of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

The floor price is fundamentally flawed.

It does nothing to address processors importing cheaper products rather than paying Australian dairy farmers more.

Federal Labor say they have spoken to dairy farmers who support this floor.

The water buybacks in 2008-12 resulted in farmers weakened by severe drought having no alternative but to sell to the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth’s unco-ordinated approach to water purchases left many stranded irrigation assets.

Remaining irrigators are still carrying the burden of these stranded assets.

The Murray Darling Basin Authority has consistently failed to honestly recognise the hurt the plan is having on regional communities and irrigated industries.

Instead, it consistently denies the impacts or argues that observed changes are caused by anything but the basin plan. The reality is that the basin plan has produced a savage, enduring man-made drought. But where is the support? At best it is treated as an afterthought, a con job.

There is no sign that the Commonwealth knows how to replace the jobs being lost by the man-made drought from the basin plan and a floor price is not going to help.

Australia needs serious federal politicians who are prepared to confront the real issues and work with affected communities to develop effective public policy responses.

Farmers and the broader community deserve some honesty and professional analysis from our federal politicians and their agencies. – John Keely is United Dairyfarmers of Victoria deputy president

❝nothing It does to address processors importing cheaper products...