ACCC dairy inquiry has started with several forums being held...

ACCC dairy inquiry has started with several forums being held across Australia.

Some news on that:
http://www.queenslandcountrylife.co...quiry-has-teeth-says-ag-commissioner/?cs=4699

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-25/dairy-farmers-to-share-industry-concerns-with-accc/8210374

The rage behind milk cut and the power balance between farmers and major processors has raised so many questions and just as much ambiguity surrounding the profit-distribution among the stakeholders.

I am confident that this inquiry will help ease some of the negative sentiment and drive regulatory changes to the outdated industry structure, where
Woolworth and Cole has the most power e.g. selling $1/L Milk to customers,with no government regulation
then Fonterra and MG has to accept lower profit margin, due to contract with the retailers
then Farmers are being told to produce milk at loss, due to contract with milk processors.

I think it is impossible to blame one particular stakeholders for all of the pains caused to the farmers but it's definitely possible that government regulation can help restructure this century-old industry with focus on more modern regulations to balance the power, and  on greater equality in sharing the profit.

Some of the interesting issues, raised at the inquiry are
1. "We just have to accept the price we're given, whether that's a high price or a low price, we have no control" from farmers.
2. "Dollar-a-litre milk unsustainable for farmers"
3. "the actions of milk processors Murray Goulburn and Fonterra Australia, after the companies last year retrospectively cut the price paid to dairy farmers for milk solids."
4. "the processors say 'oh the deals that we strike with the supermarkets are none of your business"

Indeed, whether the FMP crash was due to the work of free market or the unfair industry structure that still saw Fonterra reap record profit is up to the Government decision.
Just my opinion, profit in the dairy industry was eroded by the price war in the grocery retailers, drop in global commodity price and the lack of intervention from the government which probably underestimated the degree of obsolesce in laws/regulation of the dairy sector which was milked out by capitalism, aka the free market.