Cattle Council has welcomed the Federal Government’s official response to the Senate inquiry into the effect of market consolidation on the red meat processing sector.
While not a core focus of the inquiry, Cattle Council believes the Federal Government’s statement regarding beef producer representation is confirmation that the Council is on the right path in overseeing producer-driven representation on a national level.
“The cattle industry is best represented through a strong and effective national organisation. The form and function of such representation is a matter for industry leadership and one for cattle producers across Australia,” the response said.
Cattle Council is committed to building on its proud legacy and work to ensure that industry representation in the future is structurally transparent and directly accountable to producers. Our plans to restructure Cattle Council are well developed and the Federal Government’s recommendations to the inquiry acknowledge that progress.
Cattle Council is focused on driving positive outcomes for cattle producers, as active stakeholders in the wider red meat supply chain. First and foremost at an industry and government level, productivity and profitability must be promoted in everything we do.
The modern red-meat supply chain is highly integrated. The success of the production sector is intrinsically linked to the fortunes of lot feeders, processors and exporters. Cattle Council supports the public comments of Australian Meat Industry Council CEO Patrick Hutchinson in responding to the government’s response to the Senate inquiry.
Producer interests flow on well beyond the farm gate and, on behalf of producers, Cattle Council will continue to advocate alongside AMIC to strengthen our processing sector.
Protecting our ‘clean, green’ reputation, opening up access to new markets and finding ways to ensure our supply chain costs are more globally competitive remains the shared focus of Cattle Council and other peak industry councils across the red meat sector.
That united approach ensures producers are getting the best possible representation nationally, and that we continue to have strong, bi-partisan support for the whole livestock and red meat sector.