FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REAPS HUGE
TAX BOOTY ON DAIRY PACKAGE
The
Federal Government will receive a Massive Tax Booty of 380 Million dollars from
the 1.6 Billion Dollar Dairy Restructure Package. The restructure package will be funded by an 8 year 11 cents per
litre tax on milk by consumers.
Federal
Agriculture Minister Warren Truss argues that the Tax is ‘Revenue Neutral’ for
the Federal Government because Tax collected from the restructure package is no
greater than previously collected from farmers profiting from the regulated
milk market.
Some of
the struggling Dairy Farmers in the Post Deregulation Environment can tell Mr.
Truss all about Neutralised Revenue.
Their Fresh Milk Quotas have turned sour, plummeting from a high above
50 cents a litre in the late 1990’s to just 26 cents per litre for present milk
sales.
In the
wake of deregulation in Queensland, Pauls has announced it will close two of
its manufacturing plants. Milk has
already stopped flowing through the company’s Mackay liquid milk facility and
the Monto manufacturing will close in May 2003. In the post deregulation exodus, more than 200 farms closed,
raising the question of how much longer it will be before Queensland Processors
move enmasse to the Dairy Heartland, Victoria.
Pauls has
also flagged the possibility of moving its main UHT Processor from South
Brisbane to Bendigo (VIC). Here’s a
snapshot of how the Federal Government is milking consumers via the 11 cents
per litre milk levy over 8 years.
Federal
Tax Booty: Victoria – 380 Million, NSW – 571.2 Million, Queensland – 225.4
Million, South Australia – 167.2 Million, Western Australia – 97.9 Million,
Tasmania – 83.2 Million.
This
report was released February 18, 2003.
It leaves you with no doubts that the dairy farmers and Australian
consumers have become the Federal Governments milking cow.