Two senior Wannon UDV members have resigned their positions, claiming the state organisation lacks accountability and transparency and fails to represent grassroots farmers in the Australian Dairy Plan.
UDV Wannon branch policy councillor Oonagh Kilpatrick has resigned from the Policy Council and vice-president and deputy policy councillor Bernie Free has resigned from the UDV completely.
Branch president Bruce Knowles said he was disappointed by the resignations, but he understood and shared their concerns.
In her letter of resignation, Mrs Kilpatrick said she had struggled with a “lack of accountability and transparency back to members throughout Victoria, especially with the Australian Dairy Plan (ADP)”.
Mrs Kilpatrick said a united dairy farmer-only advocacy body was needed but would not be achieved by the ADP.
The branch presented a model known as the Wannon Solution to the ADP review and despite receiving widespread support from farmers across Australia, the Joint Transition Team would not consider a farmer representative model.
Mrs Kilpatrick said the Wannon Solution aimed to strengthen and drive democratic principles and give control to grassroots farmers.
“UDV Wannon will continue to drive for these requirements,” she said.
Mr Free has been a UDV member since he started dairy farming in 1993 but said he felt compelled to resign due to the lack of action, engagement and accountability over the ADP.
He said there was widespread concern in the branch about the plan.
“We feel the plan is heading down a direction that dairy farmers don’t want it to take.
“I follow ethics, accountability and responsibility to the industry and if you can’t change it from within, then you have to take a stand and resign and do it in a different way.
“I will be agitating through every other means I can.”
Mr Free said the impacts of the ADP would reverberate in the industry for 20 years.
“If my daughter wishes to continue dairy farming, it needs to be the right model, which means processors are not in the same room as dairy farmers,” he said.
“Everybody I talk to agrees with that but publicly they won’t state it.”
Mr Knowles said the resignations were disappointing but the ADP and its processes had consumed the energies of the Wannon branch.
“I was disappointed with their decisions, but I understand and respect what they are doing,” he said.
“Oonagh and Bernie have been heavily involved in the dynamics around the Australian Dairy Plan and represented the concerns of the branch and their fellow farmers.”
Mr Knowles said he shared their fears as the ADP had possible ramifications for the next generation of dairy farming businesses and communities depending on them. He said the branch was united in its goals.
“Our Wannon Solution was endorsed by the branch and we will continue to push that. We are united and committed to getting our point of view across and it’s still a work in progress.”
Mrs Kilpatrick will remain a member of the Wannon branch while Mr Free has resigned from the UDV.