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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1890 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

I would have thought that cheaper prices, jobs for young people and viable small businesses were enough benefit to outweigh increased price, fewer jobs for young people and a shrinking small business sector. He went on to say:

Dairy! Hear that, minister-an exemption for dairy? Queensland Treasury made an interesting point about compensation for victims of change. It asked who should pay the costs of compensation. The beneficiaries should. Who are the beneficiaries of this change? The government has not told us. In 1995 we were told that benefits of the NCP would be lower prices, higher productivity, higher real wages and increased employment. On each criterion the decision to deregulate has failed.

It is unfortunate that we cannot change the past and the wrongs that this government has done in the milk industry. The Minister for Urban Services has thrown a bomb into the industry, let it exploded and walked away from the mess he created. Now we are left with a Treasurer who has not been very comfortable in his role as a milkman.

Ms Carnell: That is just rubbish.

MR HARGREAVES: Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I seek your protection, please, from the people across the chamber who are trying to bully me.

MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Mr Hird): This would be a unique occasion, with you asking the chair to protect you. I think you are very competent in looking after yourself, but you have my protection, Mr Hargreaves.

MR HARGREAVES: I thank you very much, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. Now we are left with a Treasurer who has not been very comfortable in his role as a milkman. However, he has failed too. Rather than stepping back and looking at the mess his colleague left and maybe fixing it, he charged straight in to finish the job off. He thought he could be a good bloke and offer the vendors a sweetener, but it is too little too late. A sum of $360,000 was paid to approximately 22 vendors. This allowed them to exit the industry with a small amount of money. Other vendors snapped their runs up, some only paying $100 for a 1,000-litre run or equivalent.

The problem now is that the vendors who bought the runs do not have enough money to service their new areas. The banks will not advance them the money to buy the product up front. Yet they have to wait up to a month for payments from customers. Put simply, the new-found extended runs cannot get the milk to service the customers. They are delivering milk to the old area, and once this is done they do the delivery for the new run. This has meant that some consumers are receiving their milk at 11 o'clock at night. Instead of vendors expanding their businesses, they are delivering to more homes but only half as often and losing customers as a result.

The milk vending sector is in chaos. It is all very well for the minister to say, "Do more advertising or increase the delivery frequency to your area," but at the end of the day vendors are nervous about 1 July. No-one can protect them from the large supermarkets, and they are scared. Woolworths and Coles will be able to charge less than vendors for

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