THE Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s first public forum looking into the cattle and beef industry will be held in Wodonga early next month.
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A venue is expected to be confirmed in coming days but it will sit on Tuesday, June 7.
It is the only public forum scheduled for Victoria and southern NSW. Others will be held in Toowoomba (June 10), Mount Gambier (June 20), Dubbo (June 24) and Bunbury (July 1).
ACCC staff will also visit a number of regional areas where forums are not being held during June and July.
“The forums are an important part of our public consultation for the market study, which examines competition, efficiency, transparency and trading issues across the supply chain,” the ACCC said on Friday.
The announcement comes on the closing date for written submissions into the ACCC’s Agriculture Enforcement and Engagement Unit’s market study.
The decision is another win for North East beef producers, who rallied and campaigned after the processor boycott of the Barnawartha prime cattle sale in February 2015. Their campaigning culminated in a senate inquiry, the ACCC investigation and cattle and beef market study.
The Red Meat Senate Inquiry into the Effect of Market Power within the red meat processing sector preliminary report was tabled this week.
Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie – who backed calls for a senate inquiry in the wake of the Barnawartha boycott – was on the Red Meat Inquiry and will speak at an update forum in Myrtleford on May 11.
“We heard a lot about abuse of market power and that many producers are afraid to come forward to give evidence, fearing retribution from others in the supply chain if they did so,” Senator McKenzie said.
The Victorian Farmers Federation, Ovens Valley Branch, will host the update forum at the Myrtleford Savoy Club at 6.30pm.
