A once in a lifetime opportunity to sort out the whole damn dairy mess we’ve all taken for granted for so long is coming to town. The ACCC wants to meet you, dear dairy farmer. Not the men in suits – you. If you can’t get to one of the forums or find the time to write an email, that’s okay because they’ll even take calls from the tractor cab on 03 9290 1997. Just do it.

Why? After last year’s debacle, we shouted from the rooftops that the system stank. For once, people listened. Average Aussies dug deeper at the supermarket to help us. And, now, the regulator is asking us exactly what the problem is and what needs to change. We can’t fall silent now. Would anyone ever take us seriously again?

We deserve a system where:

• the risk in the supply chain is shared fairly by processors and farmers;
• the farmer is free to sell his or her milk based purely on its virtues on an open market;
• processors act independently of their competitors;
• there is trust and transparency in all dealings; and
• farms big and small are treated fairly.

This stuff is pretty basic in other industries and it’s far bigger than the behaviour of MG and Fonterra (the regulator is looking into that separately). It’s about the way the entire dairy sector ticks and how we are paid for our milk.

It may just be the closest we will get to spelling out and solving the problems that ruined lives. Don’t let others decide our futures. This time, the ACCC means business  but it needs your input.

The ACCC dairy forums will be held at:

• Monday 6 February 2017 – Toowoomba, Qld
• Tuesday 7 February 2017, 12pm–2pm – Club West, Taree, NSW
• Tuesday 14 February 2017– Traralgon, Vic
• Monday 27 February 2017 – Warrnambool, Vic
• Tuesday 28 February 2017 – Shepparton, Vic
• Thursday 16 March 2017 – Bunbury, WA
• Monday 20 March 2017 – Hahndorf, SA
• Wednesday 22 March 2017 – Burnie, Tas

Go if you can, email dairyinquiry@accc.gov.au or call 03 9290 1997 and ask for Amy Bellhouse. All the details are at the ACCC dairy inquiry website.