China's thirst for Australian-made baby formula could be quenched by Illawarra and South Coast dairy farmers, industry advocates say.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The dairy sector was one of the big winners when the China-Australia free trade agreement [FTA] was signed in Canberra this week.
The agreement includes phasing out all dairy tariffs within four to 11 years, a move Jamberoo dairy farmer Mark Honey said would make Australian products more competitive in the Chinese market.
Mr Honey said Australia would finally be ‘‘competing on an even playing field’’ with other major players, including the European Union, which didn’t have competitive tariffs.
He said the agreement wouldn’t have a ‘‘significant effect’’ on the region’s dairy industry because all milk was sold on the domestic market, but the move would encourage expansion.
‘‘The dairy industry goes on a roller-coaster ride...this could even out the peaks and the troughs,’’ Mr Honey said.
Dairy industry advocate Lynne Strong said the greatest issue for farmers was ongoing price volatility, including the impact of international prices.
Mrs Strong’s son, Nicholas, runs the family farm at Jamberoo, which produces about 3million litres of milk a year.
Since New Zealand signed a free trade agreement in 2008, the country’s market share in China had doubled, Mrs Strong said.
‘‘That’s a really exciting opportunity for Australia,’’ she said.
Also included in the FTA is the removal of a 15per cent tariff on infant milk formula, to be phased out over four years.
‘‘There’s a huge thirst for Australian-made baby formula in China,’’ Mrs Strong said, adding there was ‘‘great interest’’ from overseas companies to set up here to produce the product.
‘‘[The agreement] just opens up the options for farmers in NSW.
‘‘This is a huge potential for our local dairy farmers to have a future going forward.’’
Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis said the FTA ‘‘could prove to be the catalyst that kick-starts the recovery of our local dairy industry’’.
The South Coast Labour Council has slammed the signing of a free trade deal with China, saying it was done with little regard for Australian jobs.
Despite Chinese goods being cheaper and a number of export tariffs removed under the agreement, council secretary Arthur Rorris said the federal government had ‘‘yet again sold out the Australian worker’’.
‘‘We think Tony Abbott has managed to lose his shirt twice in a week,’’ Mr Rorris told the Mercury on Tuesday.
‘‘This is an agreement that has been negotiated in secret, it is an agreement that has been motivated by big business for big business, it is not a deal for the worker.’’
Mr Rorris said a clause in the agreement would allow Chinese companies to apply to bring their own workforce to Australia, without advertising for Australian workers.
‘‘The government says the same protections continue [but] that’s garbage,’’ he said.
Mr Rorris said the Illawarra was ‘‘particularly exposed because of our manufacturing base’’.
‘‘We already have Australian companies who are sacking Australian workers in order to exploit cheaper labour in Asia,’’ he said.