Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1896 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

from vendors as much as they used to. These days families have two cars. Mum and Dad both go off and work. They often do things at odd hours. They might come and go at strange hours. The idea of being able to put your milk bottles out and collect them again and be sure of being able to operate the system that goes with home vending has changed. These days many fewer people buy their milk from vendors than before. That is the pressure on milk vending today.

The auction and the other changes to the market that happened earlier this year were based on a desire to provide an infusion of funds to allow vending to remain viable in the ACT. The ACT government infused $350,000-plus of public money into the process of giving that industry some basis for rationalising its numbers, allowing those who wanted to get out to do so and providing a basis for those who wished to continue runs to do so with viable runs. I do not pretend that the process has been entirely successful, but overall vendors who have picked up a number of other runs, albeit with some difficulty at the moment in delivery of the services-I concede that-at least are in the position of having a basis to provide an economically viable service in the future. I hope that that is the case.

I go back to the decline in delivery numbers. Something like 80 per cent of milk was delivered to people's homes a few years ago. That figure is now 20 per cent.

Mr Hargreaves: What was it two years ago?

MR HUMPHRIES: I do not know what it was two years ago, but the decline has been from 80 per cent to 20 per cent.

Mr Hargreaves: You should find out what it was.

MR HUMPHRIES: I will find out if you like, Mr Hargreaves. It has been a serious decline. The government, with all due respect, has not been responsible for that. It has been a change in the way people have purchased their milk.

The repeal of the Milk Authority Act is a logical final step, if only because, I would submit respectfully to the Assembly, there is really no alternative. All that is left of the authority-there is a shell at the moment-is a one-man board and one staff member, who will be transferred to another part of the public service on the winding up of the authority. The contracts for the bulk supply of milk expire on 30 June. There will be basically no income to the authority after 30 June. The only income it will receive is the collection of an annual trademark licence worth $40,000. That, of course, will go into consolidated revenue in the absence of a milk authority.

I do not come to this place arguing passionately that milk deregulation has been a wonderfully fulfilling exercise for the ACT. I can only say that it has been an inevitable exercise for the ACT and one which we are going to have to work out ways of adapting to, particularly as far as home vending is concerned and particularly when it comes to giving an opportunity for home vendors who remain in the industry to expand the number of products that they offer and the flexibility of service that they deliver. People basically get only milk products from vendors at the moment. Under deregulation there is no reason why vendors should not sell a range of other things to people's homes.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .