Opposition leader Bill Shorten said in a statement if a floor price was needed to end the dairy crisis, where farmers were paid less than the cost of producing their milk, it’s what Labor would deliver.

Something Labor Gilmore candidate Fiona Phillips, a dairy farmer’s daughter, says she has been campaigning for for a number of years.

“I have been calling for an increase to the farm-gate milk price for years,” Mrs Phillips said.

The action follows a recent kitchen-table held in Gilmore where Mrs Phillips and Labor spokesperson for agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon met with local dairy farmers.

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“I’m proud that Labor has made this announcement. It is an important win for our farmers, and an example of Labor listening and acting," she said. 

The news comes as Woolworths’ scraps its $1 a lite milk. Something its main competitor Coles maintains it will not do.

Australia’s $4 billion dairy farming industry supports more than 5,500 farming families and creates around 42,500 jobs. It is also a key exporter of quality Australian dairy product.

Labor says it would also establish a mandatory Dairy Code of Conduct to ensure the dairy market is functioning fairly for all participants.

Something Mr Shorten says the Coalition Government has had more than five years to implement, but in Senate estimates on Tuesday admitted it had ‘kicked the Mandatory Code down the road to July 1 , 2020.’

“Our dairy farmers are caught in a long-running cost-price squeeze that is being compounded by drought and Morrison Government inaction,” Mr Shorten said.

“Government intervention is needed to save our dairy sector and our dairy farmers.”

Two decades after Australian dairy industry was deregulated, Labor has promised to have the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigate the best way to establish a minimum farm-gate milk price.

“It is not acceptable for our farmers to be paid less than the cost of producing their milk,” Mr Shorten said.

“If a floor price is needed to end this crisis, that’s what Labor will deliver.

“If Australia wants a thriving dairy industry, leaders must act.

“Business as usual needs to end, and directing the ACCC to assess, test and design a floor price is an important first step in giving our dairy farmers a fair go.”

The statement said the Liberals and Nationals “talk a big game in Canberra, but they’ve nothing to help our dairy farmers and refuse to intervene in the market”.

Labor’s Farm Productivity and Sustainable Profitability Plan will also include a focus on farm extension to ensure farmers have access to the latest productivity enhancing innovation.