Without paraphrasing, I think the following call for a full judicial enquiry in to the Australian Beef Industry speaks for itself. (See it for yourself here)
ABA Chairman, Brad Bellinger said ‘US cattle prices are approaching record levels and their feeder steer is bringing over 40% more than its Australian equivalent. UK prices are at record levels and rising fast and Brazilian prices for forequarter beef have almost doubled since October’.
Australian prices have FALLEN 15% in the past year and we now have the lowest prices in the developed world. Australia is not suffering from oversupply, as we won’t go near filling the US beef quota. Brazil is shipping many times Australia’s tonnage into Russia, yet Australian cattlemen are being paid 15% less than they were a year ago.
Mr Bellinger continued, ‘We are paying almost five times the US producer levy to an unrepresentative and unaccountable MLA, plus we are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for a failed NLIS system that was meant to see us lead the world in market access and despite this, we are coming last’.
He said, ‘ABA research and our submission tendered to the ACCC Inquiry into Groceries have shown that the Australian supermarkets have by far the highest mark-up in the world, as they rort Australian consumers and producers.’
He continued, ‘I know that we live in the land of Ned Kelly and unregulated corporate price gouging is rampant but this time they have gone too far and are killing the ‘Goose that lays the Golden Egg’.
Australia is surviving on the sale of public infrastructure, the sale of businesses and our minerals; – when these run out, we will find we have destroyed our agricultural industry and end up with nothing; – similar to Nauru. Farms are up for sale Australia wide, while the MLA and the Government have failed us badly.
‘Considering the above facts, we call on Minister Burke to establish a Royal Commission into the Meat Industry,’ stated Mr Bellinger. ENDS
For more information please contact Brad Bellinger on 02 6725 4282 Mob 0401 233 421
Linda Hewitt 07 4987 6794 Mob 041 978 9211
What do you think?
Please leave your comment via the link below
Michele West said
The Liberal Government under John Howard has a lot of explaining to do about their treacherous policy decisions regarding primary production in this country. The Australian prawning industry will be lucky to survive until Christmas because of high fuel costs and the astronomical amount of Asian prawns being allowed in, that has killed our market. We are currently allowing the importation of more prawns than are being locally produced, meanwhile kilotonnes of local product are in cold storage because the supermarkets are stocking imports. Primary producers were once, proudly, the backbone of this country. Now we are controlled by Government led, instead of industry driven, peak bodies who are serving their own agendas, and to hell with us. All primary producers need to stand united and demand action from our current government.
ruralaustralia said
Hi Michele,
It sounds like Australian producers in general share similar concerns. However, unfortunately, like so many other issues, Australian production issues just don’t seem to rate at the moment as Govt. is blind-sided by the gross amount resources (read, ‘global demand for sand from our pit’) is bringing in as distinct from the pain being felt in *many* other areas that iron ore production doesn’t assist (and which are in fact being hindered by it)!
Keep pluggin’ – ‘democracy’ will hopefully come home to roost one day.
Gary Buller said
RMAG Supports ABA Claims and Rebukes Woolworths Nonsense
The Red Meat Action Group supports the Australian Beef Association in its call for a Judicial Inquiry into the Australian Beef Industry. The current state of affairs, exacerbated by the gas crisis, facing Western Australian beef producers particularly and as a result the entire industry, clearly demonstrates the need for such action. World cattle prices continue to rise, while Western Australian producers receive prices similar to the 1980’s, all while Western Australian consumers are faced with paying the highest retail beef prices in the country; – if not the world.
The complete and utter nonsense put forward by Woolworths in a recent letter to a Western Australian rural magazine, rebuking the RMAG and ABA claims, confirm the need for a Judicial Inquiry. Woolworths now say they used a particular $10 cut of beef to demonstrate how little return they make on beef sales, when paying the producer $3.80 for the product. This Woolworths assertion not only shows our claims to be true but treats producers with contempt and shows why many producers now hold Woolworths in such low esteem. If Woolworth’s returns on beef sales are as low as they claim, one must ask why they continue to sell beef. It isn’t good enough to keep saying they support WA producers with selling nearly 100% West Australian beef. The question needs to be asked, at what cost to producers and ultimately the WA industry, does this pontificating equate to?
The RMAG recently provided the ACCC with information to prove that someone post processor is rorting the industry and placing its future in jeopardy. The information showed that $3.80 paid for a 250kg HSCW grain fed yearling equated to a boned out price of $5.13/kg for the resultant 185kg retail product in the carton. At the time the processors sold this product for $6.00/kg, which eventually retailed for an average $16.00/kg, a margin of $10.00/kg. This means producers, lotfeeders and processors, combined, have the greatest costs and risk, and are forced to share a miserly 37.5% of the consumer dollar, while the retailer grabs the lion share of 62.5%. One has to question Woolworth’s claim of 3% profit on meat sales, when their cabinets offer beef cuts dearer than that in Tokyo and the Japanese have to pay an additional 38% tariff, while Woolworths do not.
Until the retail giants get their heads out of the sand and treat producers with the respect they deserve, RMAG will continue to support ABA in applying pressure on those sectors of industry, including the large retailers, MLA and Cattle Council, which fail to recognise the plight of the industry. The State and Federal Governments must also share in the blame for not being prepared to acknowledge the plight of the entire Australian food production sector at a time of world food shortages and rapidly escalating production costs.
The RMAG calls on Federal Minister Burke to establish a Judicial Inquiry into the Australian Meat Industry with special reference to Western Australia.
Contact Gary Buller
Chairman, Red Meat Action Group