Consultative process with department worsens, say farmers
President John Dillon said policy announcements with serious impact on individual farmers' livelihoods have been made with inadequate or no prior consultation. Policy positions in some cases have been adopted when it should be clear to the department that these were not in the spirit of a partnership approach.
"There is rarely an acknowledgement by the department of the seriousness of the farm income situation, and comments from the minister seem to be mainly concerned with the off-farm income component of farm household earnings," he said.
