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METROPOLITAN WHOLE MIL.
The winning by a milk vendor of an
appeal against a decision of the Metro
politan Milk Board denying him the
right to treat milk for human con
sumption may not be a matter which
directly concerns the public to any
great extent. But it does raise con
sideration of the fact that the Metro
politan Milk Act expires at the
end of this year--a fact which con
fronts the Government with the re
sponsibility bf either permitting it to
lapse, or renewing it with or without
amendments. This Act has now been
effective for more than six years, and
it is high time that its principles and
operations were reviewed with the ob
ject of discovering what it has achieved
in that period. Obviously the effect
of the Act has been to hold cheap milk
off the metropolitan market. Milk,
however, is a very important food
stuff, and legislative action to prevent
milk from becoming cheap, though not
necessarily a wrong policy, is one which
needs to be watched with care.
There is a natural relationship be
tween butterfat and whole milk
values and every dairy farmer has the
choice, when whole milk values fall
below the margin by which they should
exceed butterfat values, of disposing
of his produce as butterfat, with
its substantial-and recently increased
-margin over export parity. With
this alternative market open to
whole milk producers, no amount of
cut-throat competition is able to re
duce whole milk values below their
normal butterfat equivalent. There
fore, the economic margin o-' r butter
fat values must be maintained if the
metropolitan area is to be assured of
regular and ample supplies. The pur
pose of the Metropolitan Milk Act
is to maintain an artificially wide
margin to the producer between the
price of whole milk and the equivalent
butterfat value of whole milk. Its ef
fect is to keep a number of whole milk
producers producing in localities which
are not competitive with the irrigation
areas of the South-West. There are
arguments for and against this. The
chief argument for it is that metro
politan dairies were developed by the
expenditure of private money, whereas
the competitive, or more than com
petitive, south-western areas were de
veloped by public funds and at con
siderable public loss. Metropolitan
dairymen claim that the competition
from irrigated and group settlement
pastures is unfair competition. The
chief argument against the artificial
margin is that it is in the public in
terest that whole milk should be re
tailed as cheaply as is consistent with
good quality and a fair profit.
It is reasonable enough that whole
milk producers should be given time
to adapt themselves to permanently
altered conditions, and that adaptation
in many instances clearly means trans
fer from areas where costs of produc
tion must be relatively high to areas
where they can be relatively low. It
is unreasonable to attempt to stop the
clock, and stabilise the whole milk in
dustry as it was in 1932. It would be
interesting to know whether the opera
tion of the Act has been to facilitate
and encourage-changes in the structure
of the whole milk industry, or to ob
viate the necessity of making them. If
six years' insulation against economic
pressure has not been: enough, how
many more years will be required under
the policy of the Milk -Board? How.
long will it be before the metro
politan area can be allowed to buy its
milk at the lowest price at which effi
dent producers in favoured areas will
be willing to sell? Would it not be
more economical to assist producers
who cannot stand up to the compett
tion of country milk to transfer them
selves and their herds and to adjust
their methods so that they can meet
this competition? Better a temporary
burden in the interest of rational ad
justment than a permanent burden to
obviate the necessity for it.
But the problems associated with
whole milk go further than the term
which should be set to the principles
underlying the Metropolitan Milk
Act. Not, only does the- indstz
itself need to be rationalised, but the
legislation dealing with dairying tals
for consolidation and rationalisaion.,
The West Australian dairying industry
is controlled legtslatively by four prin
cipal ctsthe Health Act, the
Dairy Industry Act, the Metropolitan
Milk Act and the Dairy Products
Marketing Regulai Act This has
meant more overlaping of authority
than real efficiency, and it may be
safely assumed that it has loaded the
community or the Industry, probably
both, with costs of administration
which have been unnecessarily high In'
relation to the benefits received. The
whole policy - of the State towards
dairying in its various forms is ripe
for revision. The necessity for doing
something about the Metropolian'
Milk Act suggests that this re
vision should be undertaken without
delay. The very least the public might
expect is a little more enlightenment
as to what the Milk Board is doing,
what policy it is pursuing and what it
regards as its ultimate goal.
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