GPA, PGA still at odds

A press release from the PGA last week fired stinging criticism at GPA’s ongoing lobbying efforts against legislation aiming to remove regulatory watchdog Wheat Exports Australia (WEA).

PGA Western Grain Growers chairman John Snooke said GPA was running around the countryside like “Chicken Little, hysterically claiming the sky was falling in on the Australian wheat industry”.

GPA chairman Peter Mailler provided a scathing retort to PGA’s statement: “How does one respond to such garbage?”

Mr Snooke said Mr Mailler’s latest attempts to delay the passing of the Wheat Export Marketing Amendment Bill in the Senate by calling for greater transparency in stock level information should be seen “for what it is – an attempt to ensure the survival of an organisation that has no mandate, no constituency, and no relevance in today’s deregulated wheat market”.

“Mr Mailler’s latest fable that growers will somehow gain a marketing advantage through the release of upcountry stock information is yet another GPA fairytale, lacking in both commercial and common sense,” he said.

Mr Snooke said grain stock information is private information.

“Why would an organisation which is supposed to represent the best interests of farmers demand they release their private information, which would not only destroy their trading position but also the competitive advantage of Australian wheat?

“And why will Eastern States growers with on-farm storage be exempt… whilst the Western Australian export wheat growers, who mostly use the CBH network for storage, will once again be disadvantaged?”

Mr Snooke said until recently WA wheat farmers were forced to provide their stock level information to one organisation, which also had many of the regulatory powers espoused by the GPA.

“And we all remember how that turned out,” he said.

“This is why WA wheat farmers remain supportive of the governments’ Bill and the amendments put forward by WA Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said the wheat legislation is a priority to pass through parliament this year to bring certainty for industry after months of protracted delays.

However, GPA has lobbied for an extension due to concerns over the lack of clarity on late amendments to the Bill raised by The Greens. The Bill passed the House of Representatives earlier this month but will need to be presented there again after passing the Senate, to include the Green’s amendments.

GPA’s key concern is for an amendment that would see port access rules managed through a mandatory code of conduct overseen by the ACCC, rather than a voluntary one.

Mr Mailler told Fairfax Agricultural Media independent research showed that grain stocks information was worth at least $2 - and probably $5 - per tonne each year to growers.

He said it was “ridiculous” that growers were being forced to pay nearly $500,000 per year to get inferior stocks information when bulk handing companies have access to this information, collated automatically within their operating system, and then deliberately withhold this to exploit the monopoly market power; ultimately to the detriment of the production sector.

“PGA argues that AWB's monopoly powers did not serve growers well and that AWB's self-interest undermined their service to growers,” he said.

“How exactly is the market access monopoly that the bulk handling companies now have any different?”

Mr Mailler said the primary role of government was to intervene where markets failed, to stimulate competition. He said GPA was the mandated representative organisation for the grains industry, and market regulation needs to be better considered to deliver a functional market that serves growers well.

“PGA seems to not understand that the undertaking by the Greens and the Minister is in fact going to provide greater regulation of market access for the wheat market than we currently have and more regulation than GPA was actually lobbying for,” he said.

“We are in this predicament because the PGA's rabid attacks, blatant fabrications and standover tactics weaken the sensible and moderate message from the majority of growers and cause widespread disengagement of grass roots growers who are truly sick of this kind of embarrassing representation.”

Mr Mailler said GPA had not won all it wanted to achieve for growers through lobbying over the wheat Bill since March this year, but he said GPA has won acknowledgment from government that the issues raised need to be investigated.

The major concession was that the port operators do need to be subject to ongoing regulatory oversight specific to the industry.

“Did we get all we wanted? No. Did we have a positive impact for growers? Absolutely. Will the outcome deliver the best possible outcome over time? Probably not, but it will be better than if we hadn't acted.

“PGA's comments… only serve to limit their effectiveness into the future.

“Sadly, PGA's failure to engage constructively as leaders only undermines the image of all agri-political representation in the eyes of growers, industry and government, and is only applauded by short-term thinking - if at all.”

In September, Mr Snooke wrote to Mr Ludwig saying GPA should be stripped of its representative status, but in response Mr Ludwig repeated his long-held view that representation is a matter for industry to resolve.

Earlier this year the PGA withdrew its support for GPA as the industry’s national peak body, saying the lobby group had “turned away” from its original charter as a self-reliant independent organisation based on direct representation from grain growers and evolved into a replica of the “failed” Grains Council of Australia.

At the time, Mr Snooke said GPA was dominated by the “vested interests of State farming organisations, including those who support the return of the single desk”.

He said the GPA’s lobbying to expand WEA’s legislative operations contradicted the PGA’s views on free market competition and threatened future supply chain investment opportunities.