BEEF’S NEW DIRECTION
Following the Paradise Lagoons Forum in July, the election was announced on the 17th July, the day after the forum was held.
Whilst the federal campaign was being conducted and the additional fortnight was taken up in deciding who the next government was to be, the United Beef Group organisers thought it would best to bide their time.
Some discussions were held with potential decision makers that we envisaged would have the best chance of assisting us in promoting the resolutions of the forum, including the implementation of Beef’s New Direction Strategic Plan.
Following the announcement of the new federal cabinet, a teleconference was held on Tuesday, 21st September to discuss the most effective options that were immediately available to us.
It was decided that we utilise the many contacts the group's members have to concentrate our efforts through the newly appointed Federal Minister for Agriculture, Joe Ludwig, to highlight to him the plight of the Australian food industry.
We must ensure the minister and in turn, the Federal Government, recognise the high statutory costs that we face in producing beef along the supply chain and the low commodity prices that we are experiencing.
Our efforts continue to be strongly encouraged by the overwhelming support from industry people who agree that something has to be done to save our industry. The strong theme that continues to emerge is that they feel they have been let down by their representative bodies.
We can only emphasise once again that our industry needs representative bodies, however they must re-engage grass roots support and be more accountable for their decisions and refocus on industry profitability.