Mr Fitzgibbon met with dairy farmers on the NSW South Coast last week and lamented the nation’s dairy farmers have been in “real trouble” for the past six years, with their challenges exacerbated by drought.
He criticised the Federal Government for not having a mandatory code of conduct for the dairy sector in place and has called for it to be released ahead of the federal election.
However, Mr Fitzgibbon concedes the code “won’t be a magic solution” to the problems faced by dairy farmers, who he said were experiencing increased costs and were being squeezed by the processors and the retailers.
“We need solutions, policies that ensure that they get a reasonable return on their investment and on their hard work and I believe that every Australian would agree with that proposition.”
A spokesman for Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, said the Government hoped to have the dairy code finalised before the election.
