Jason and Lisa Rozynski were told in June by Maleny Dairies they no longer required their 3.3 million litres of milk. At the very last minute they were rescued by Kenilworth Dairies but the reality was for many months, the Rozynski’s were in the terrible and stressful situation of not having a processor to take their milk.
Ironically, processors and the Queensland Government only launched the 2026-32 Queensland Dairy Plan earlier this year, with the aim to lift the volume of milk produced in the state by five per cent.
CEO of eastAUSmilk Eric Danzi said processing capacity, shutting down of the Lactalis factory in southern Queensland and the movement of processed milk into the state, had culminated in a “perfect storm”.
“We need existing factories to increase processing capacity and retailers and consumers to support locally manufactured milk.
“Government has a role to play by supporting processors to expand existing capacity, and we also need more truth in milk labelling so consumers can look and see where their milk is actually processed,” Eric said.
He said Queensland milk production sat around 280 million litres, while annual consumption was around 580 million litres.
“No-one is arguing that we need to bring milk into Queensland, that’s not the issue.
“The issue is the reducing processing capacity, and the impact this will have on farmers moving forward, and the fact retailers are transporting milk into Queensland.
“How do we grow our industry if we can’t process the milk here?”
Eric said he was concerned about what would happen when many farmers come off their milk supply contracts next year.
“I have already heard of a couple of farmers who are being proactive and exiting the industry on their own terms.”
He said eastAus Milk was actively lobbying processors, retailers and government to inform them of the situation and they were looking to get consumers on board as well.
“Processing creates employment and keeps our farmers in business, and we want that to continue for our industry — what we don’t want to see is a reduction,” he said.
Eric said importing cheap staple food products was shameful and costed Australia more in the long run.
“Government should be supporting our agricultural sector and encouraging productivity including the Queensland dairy industry.”
