The country’s peak dairy farmer representative body says today’s news that Lactalis’s Longwarry processing plant will close reflects the mounting pressures facing Australia’s dairy industry.
Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) President Ben Bennett said the news was first and foremost about people, acknowledging the pain this decision will cause workers, their families and the local businesses that rely on the site.
“It will take time for the employees, their families and the Longwarry community to come to terms with today’s decision,” Mr Bennett said.
“While this is a commercial decision by Lactalis, it is another reminder that Australia’s dairy industry is operating in an increasingly challenging environment.”
During the ACCC’s assessment of Lactalis’s acquisition of Fonterra, ADF raised concerns about increasing consolidation across the dairy industry and the importance of maintaining strong competition and regional processing facilities.
“Today’s decision reinforces why competition and processing capacity matter. Every factory that closes undermines dairy communities and makes the industry that little bit smaller.
“Governments cannot keep saying they support food security, sovereign manufacturing and stronger regional communities while making it harder and more expensive to make food in this country.
“Rising energy prices, increasing regulation, growing compliance obligations, escalating input costs and trade settings that expose Australian producers to heavily subsidised imports are steadily eroding Australia’s dairy industry.”
Mr Bennett said the dairy industry needs governments to stop adding costs and start backing Australian dairy.
“Unless these underlying issues are addressed, Australia will continue to lose investment, dairy factories, jobs and, ultimately, dairy farms.
“No one wants to see more factories close or more dairy farms disappear from regional Australia. We need policies that strengthen the competitiveness of Australia’s dairy industry before more communities feel the impact. “Today it’s one factory, but this should concern every Australian who wants to keep seeing fresh Australian dairy products on supermarket shelves and in their fridges.”