Australia Farmers Ask For Aid

摘要

Government assistance has been sought by south-west Australian dairy farmers to help with the cuts in income due to the global economic downturn. The south-west is Australia's leading dairy district, with over 6,200 farmers, and has seen payment cuts of up to 33% in farmgate prices recently. MP David Hawker has urged the government to ensure revenue from the A$0.11 per litre levy on milk, set to expire this month, is passed back to farmers and consumers. "I am extremely concerned that the levy placed on fresh milk sales in Australia to help the dairy industry adjust to deregulation will be swallowed up by the retail sector and neither consumers nor farmers will see any of it," Hawker told Australian newspaper The Standard recently. He also notes the industry would be hit hard by the scrapping of a 40% rebate on AQIS export certification costs and the emissions trading scheme (ETS). "Initial estimates show the ETS will cost the individual dairy farmer upwards of $12,000 (€6,024) a year," he says.