To The Editor

The disastrous visitation imposed on Australian Dairy-farmers was not unexpected.
It has been building up for many years and if you had been following the trends it was inevitable although its final form unknown; invariably it would be accompanied by misery and hardship for honest hard-working Australians.

The number of cows needed to remain a viable business has increased year by year pushed by costs arising from outside the farm boundary. In the beginning it was relatively easy to milk a few more cows or plant a couple more acres of crop. It was akin to a raging fire under the steam-boiler and adding more weight to the pressure relief valve.

All of the increased costs are induced by State and Federal Governments who automatically increase their taxes and charges by the annual inflation rate and this flows right through the community.
Added to this are local government rates and charges; have you ever known rates to be reduced? Capping council rates is another weight on the ‘pressure valve’.
Whenever there is a tariff review or references to the Productivity Commission, it always means increased costs whether it is energy (power and fuel), water for irrigation, etcetera. Farmers cannot pass these costs on to somebody else.

To offer farmers’ loans at concessional interest rates is also an inane response when the total rural debt carried by a diminishing number of farmers is rising each year.
It is not sustainable and will lead to ever more hardship and misery spread throughout the entire population of Australia with the only exemptions the few who live in ‘ivory towers’ who are insulated from the results of their decisions; it is time for a change!

The nub of the problem lies with the financial system and inherent inflationary policies emanating from our Parliaments. The Reserve Bank is a creature of the Parliament and is charged with ‘managing Australia’s Finance’. (Ask your elected Member for a copy of the Reserve Bank Act 1959)

Inflation should NOT BE MANAGED BUT ELIMINATED, and it can be!
This was effectively done during World War II and you can find references in the Australian Year Book, Number 37, 1946-47, beginning page 458.
Chapter XII, Labour Wages and Prices. Section C. Control of Prices during and since the 1939-45 War.

An inquiry into the Financial System needs to be undertaken but not lead by the wolves, (bankers and economists) instructing the foxes (elected politicians) how to manage the lambs and chickens (Australian Public).

It is the Parliament that should be instructing the ‘financial managers’ to implement policies in the best interests of the Australian people or terminate their employment; they must be judged on their performance which at present is wanting.
This also applies to the elected politicians who would rather yield to external foreign and financial interests before serving their constituents.

In the final analysis it comes down to the voting patterns of you, the Australian Voter … when will you wake up?
Louis Cook, Numurkah, Victoria

Some press references for your interest follow …

Date	Article	Source	Comment
24/08/1978	Howard tips the bucket on farmers	National Farmer Vol 1 No 16 August 1978 P1	Australian farmers will be about $2000 poorer as a result of the harsh medicine dealt out in the 1978/79 Howard budget
13/08/2005	Petrol price changes our lives	Herald Sun, August 13th, 2005, Page 4	Mr Macfarlane yesterday told a parliamentary hearing that despite pain for consumers the price rise was beneficial for the economy
29/09/2006	Gambler stole $400,000	Herald Sun, September 29th, 2006, Page 31	A mother of two who turned to gambling to relieve work and health pressures stole almost $400,000…
30/09/2006	Personal debt hits $1 trillion	Herald Sun, September 30th, 2006, Page 19	Australian have reached $1 trillion of debt for the first time.
11/10/2006	Bankruptcy rate soars	Herald Sun, October 11th, 2006, Page 15	Bankruptcies in Australia jumped almost 10 per cent in past year.
5/11/2006	Spiralling debt traps families	Herald Sun, November 5th, 2006, Page 25	Food trolley lightens as rates load up
05/11/2006	Higher fees, higher bank profits	Sunday Herald Sun, November 5th, 2006, Page 25	Australians contributed $9.2 billion in fees as banks posted record profits.
18/12/2006	Here's cheers to price hikes	Herald Sun, December 18th, 2006, Page 11	CityLink tolls, university fees and electricity bills are among the government approved costs that will go up.
4/04/2007	Dairy cows culled	Shepparton News, April 4th, 2007, Page 1	Cattle flow to abattoirs as feed dwindles
23/06/2007	Feeling the squeeze	Herald Sun, June 23rd, 2007, Page 11	Households hit by rocketing price of living.
1/10/2007	Grants to help farmers leave land	Shepparton News, October 1st, 2007, Page 6	Exit Grants – (Farmers beaten by ‘the system’ must go!)
1/10/2007	Drought aid doubts	Shepparton News, October 1st, 2007, Page 3	Agents say they are not sure the Federal package will work
5/09/2008	Dairying difficulties	Shepparton News, September 5th, 2008.	Study finds area's farmers earnt 40 per cent less than average
15/09/2008	Necessary for survival	Country News, September 15th, 2008. Page 7	In light of the drought and increases in oil prices, water and politics, the price means none of us have made any extra money.
3/01/2009	Council forcing elderly off their land, says doctor	The Age, January 9th, 2009.	They force older people out of their properties … for developers.
28/01/1010	Swan shrugs off inflation concern	Shepparton News, January 28th, 2010, Page 11	Treasurer Wayne Swan has downplayed the latest inflation figures
20/06/2010	Family comfort sinks	Sunday Herald Sun, 20th June, 2010, Page 31	Price rises hit home. A basic "comfortable" life in Victoria is now beyond the reach … of families.
18/09/2010	World is hungry for Aussie farmland	Weekend News, September 18th, 2010. Page 19	Food Supply under threat from offshore investors
22/07/2011	Council bickering bill revealed	Shepparton News, July 22nd, 2011, Page 3	Greater Shepparton City Council's internal ructions have cost nearly $50,000 since January 2006.
3/01/2012	Who'll drag us free of our heavy debt burden	The Australian, February 3rd, 2012	assistant treasurer Bill Shorten dismissed the claim of profligacy in government borrowing
20/01/2012	Council rates pain getting worse	Herald Sun, January 28th, 2012.	A major cost of living review reveals Melbourne property rates have almost doubled in a decade, and are up 38% in five years.
11/07/2012	Councils just don't rate	The Weekly Times, July 11th, 2012, Page 21	Rocketing local levies leave farmers struggling in their wake
12/03/2014	Investors eye golden returns from water rights	The Australian, March 12th, 2014	Australian fund managers are eyeing an increasingly liquid market: water.
19/03/2014	A plague of fat cats	Herald Sun, March 19th, 2014, Page 13.	Town hall executive wages bill soars as minister questions agendas.
19/03/2014	Stop the big cash splurge	Herald Sun, March 19th, 2014, Page 24.	Victoria's bloated municipal councils have hit households with rate increases totalling $2 billion above the rate of inflation over the past 10 years.