Reaction to the Government's preferred options for amendments to the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA) and the Raw Milk Regulations has drawn a swift, and often uncomplimentary response.
Fonterra Chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden says the propsed changes to the Raw Milk Regulations won't work and New Zealanders will end up subsidising foreign-owned dairy processors that don't sell milk in New Zealand and who send their products and profits offshore.
'It makes no sense for Fonterra's farmers to do the hard yards producing this milk, only to be forced to hand it over to companies who then ship it straight offshore and pocket the profits' he says.
Sir Henry says Fonterra Farmers are angry their 1500 submissions have been ignored and they are being press-ganged into this great milk subsidy.
"International competitors will be laughing at New Zealand'.
Fonterra Cheif Executive Theo Spierings says 'Handcuffing us at home will weaken our ability to compete and win overseas'
He says 'Why penalise the most productive sector of the economy?'
Federated Farmers Dairy Spokesperson Willy Leferink says most farmers he’s spoken to are disappointed with the perceived injustice of the proposals.
“We won’t get any change at the farm gate for at least another 3 years.
“I don’t think farmers are happy waiting that long, because in the meantime, while they’re waiting, Fonterra is getting hammered.”
Willy Leferink was adamant the Federated Farmers will be making a submission before the end of February, asking the minister to reconsider his recommendations.
“It’s a big thing to read, and I’ll have to sit down and go through it soon!
“For the farmers though, what it didn’t create was competition at the farm gate.
“We saw consumers jumping up and down, but we didn’t get change at the farm gate, so we still have to wait a long time for that to happen.”
Consumer New Zealand has welcomed the recommendations. CEO Sue Chetwyn says it’s a win for New Zealand consumers and she is pleased the Government is now taking action
“Fonterra is a monopoly. It’s a company that has been able to set up to perform on the international stage and has done that very, very well, and it’s fantastic for New Zealand that this has been able to happen.
"But at the same time New Zealanders have been paying very high prices for their milk, and suddenly when the heat comes on, the milk price comes down and Fonterra is supplying milk to schools, and is looking at reviewing its prices.
"So I think that everything that is happening is probably in the end going to be good for consumers and a bit more regulation into what Fonterra can do is called for.”
