Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie today confirmed the
schedule of Dairy roundtable meetings to be held across regional Victoria in
December.
Senator McKenzie will represent the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, at the Department of
Agriculture and Water Resources organised meetings.
The purpose of the meetings is to hear the views of dairy farmers
regarding the delivery of assistance measures, including the Coalition
Government’s $579 million dairy assistance package to support farmers affected
by reduced farmgate milk prices.
The roundtables will be held in the following communities,
commencing 10.30 am:
North-East Victoria:
Tangambalanga – Monday 12 December
Goulburn Valley:
Congupna – Tuesday 13 December
Gippsland: Morwell – Thursday
15 December
South-west Victoria:
Camperdown – Friday 16 December
Senator McKenzie said these roundtables are further evidence of
the Coalition Government's commitment to support Australia's dairy farmers.
“$45.5 million in Dairy Recovery Concessional Loans have been
approved for Victorian dairy farmers and there are currently 378 Victorian
dairy farmers receiving the Farm Household Allowance, an increase of 263 since
2 May 2016.
“Under the Coalition Government more than $567 million in
concessional loans have been approved to 1072 farm businesses Australia wide
and more than 6,750 farmers have been granted Farm Household Allowance,
including 1,907 in Victoria.
“The Coalition is getting assistance out the door and it is
hitting the ground to help farmers in need. By comparison, there was no support
for dairy farmers under the former Labor Government when, in 2009, milk prices
were actually lower than they are today.
“Under Labor only 8 concessional loans were approved and only 367
farming families were receiving a support payment when the Coalition came to
office in September 2013.