Minister’s dairy meeting a positive step

A round table meeting with State Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan and dairy industry members has been hailed a step forward to safeguarding WA’s milk suppliers.

WAFarmers dairy section president Michael Partridge and dairy processors were among the industry representatives to meet with Ms MacTiernan in Perth on Thursday.

A WAFarmers spokeswoman said it was “honest and productive” as efforts to address the ongoing dairy oversupply continue.

“WAFarmers appreciates being involved in the process and applauds Minister MacTiernan on getting all stakeholders together for collaborative discussions on how to safeguard the future of the WA dairy industry,” she said.

“WAFarmers understands more information on the discussions will be made available to the public in due course.”

The meeting comes following Harvey Fresh’s announcement three of its South West suppliers, who were facing possible industry exit, were offered six-month contract extensions.