South Australia Dairyfarmers’ Association president Rob Brokenshire has publicly taken aim at Prime Minister Anthony Alabanese, giving him a capital F for failure when it comes to supporting the South Australian dairy industry and the wider agricultural industry in general.
Rob said he was disgusted with the lack of focus from the federal labour government on a $100 billion agricultural industry.
“The cost to do business in Australia is out of control, we are drowning in red tape, and we want fair trade agreements that are actually fair to Australian agriculture,” Rob said.
“The prime minister is out of touch when it comes to visas, and at a time when we don’t have enough workers in Australia, he decides to make it even harder.”
Rob said for a government supposedly focused on increasing the value of Australian agriculture past $100billion, it wasn’t doing a very good job.
“How can we increase gross national product when we have a prime minister who doesn’t even understand the basics of agriculture?” he said.
Rob points out the duplication of a National Environmental Protection Agency as an example of bureaucracy gone mad.
“Albanese has employed federal environment protection agency officers on top of the state ones, he doesn’t understand business and costs at all.”
Rob’s criticism of the government comes off the back of a particular tough time for the South Australian dairy industry that recently battled through one of the toughest droughts in the history of the state.
Rob’s own feed costs during that period to feed his 700-cow Jersey herd increased by $500,000 in one year.
“At the moment, things have turned around and are looking pretty good for us,” he said.
“Silage looks good, hay is looking good, and we are on track for a bumper crop season — we just need one more rain to finish it off, and it will be perfect.
“It has been a brilliant turn around after all the talk of an El-Nińo, and even if we are in for a hot dry summer, we can deal with that.
“We all just need a good spring and another month of favourable weather conditions.”