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Mrs PENFOLD (Flinders): I rise to support the Bill, which removes an anomaly in the trading of grain in South Australia. The Australian Wheat Board deals in everything in South Australia except barley and oats. The Wheat Board deals in wheat, legumes and canola. The Wheat Marketing Act was renewed in 1989 in South Australia and Victoria, where there were marketing boards. A clause was inserted in the Bills which prevented the Australian Wheat Board from dealing in barley and oats in these States. When the new Barley Marketing Act was passed last year, the domestic feed market was deregulated to a certain degree, in that any trader, except the Wheat Board, could get a permit to trade barley. The Australian Wheat Board was locked out while even the most doubtful of dealers could get a permit. This created an anomaly in the marketing of feed barley, which this legislation addresses. The Australian Barley Board still holds a monopoly of the export of barley from South Australia, and this will not be altered. Malting barley is treated separately from feed barley. Farmers who produce malting barley can deal with the Australian Barley Board or direct with maltsters, and that will not change. This legislation corrects an anomaly which prevents the Australian Wheat Board from entering the feed market, whereas anyone else is given the right to trade. The difficulty is that, if a barley grower does not want to trade with the Barley Board, he or she cannot trade with the Wheat Board. Both boards have achieved a high level of regard in the industry because farmers have confidence that they will get paid for their grain. There are private traders with whom farmers can deal with some confidence, but there are also pitfalls in private trading. There was an instance in the Mid North a few years ago when a legume buyer went bankrupt, and farmers did not receive full payment for deliveries.
Farming today is too
difficult to take such unnecessary risks. I support the Bill because it will
allow farmers to trade with the confidence that they will be paid. It will
also remove the anomaly I have previously mentioned, and that will put some
competition into the marketing of feed barley. Competition usually is to the
benefit of the producer and consumer, not only through pricing structures
but also, and more importantly, through quality and accurate sales
descriptions. Competition will not threaten good traders, such as the
Australian Wheat Board and the Australian Barley Board. The Australian
Farmers Federation supports the removal of this anomaly, and so do I. |
E-mail address:
flinders.portlincoln@parliament.sa.gov.au
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