Foreign millers acting like spoilt brats

DECEMBER 10, 2015: FOREIGN-owned millers such as Wilmar and Mitr Phol need to stop throwing temper tantrums and get on with business.Wilmar is saying it will not sign any further agreements for next year’s crop and Mitr Phol has announced that it will cease all new investment across its Australian sugar business.Both foreign millers are reacting to the passing of legislation in State Parliament to ensure growers have choice over who markets their sugar.These foreign-owned millers are behaving like two-year-olds chucking a tantrum because the parliament hasn’t done what they wanted.Their actions are threatening the stability of the industry and the thousands of jobs it supports.If the foreign millers don’t like the new rules, which merely protect growers’ right to marketing choice, they should put a For Sale sign out the front of their mills and let those mills go to the highest bidder.Then we can get on with the job of effectively producing sugar in the region.People should realise that effectively nothing has changed.Prior to the passing of the bill in State Parliament, sugar was marketed through Queensland Sugar Limited or the mills.After the passing of this bill, sugar will be marketed through QSL or the mills.Yet these foreign-owned millers want to have everything their own way, and let’s remember that our State Labor Government wanted to kowtow to their demands as well.It’s high time for them to accept the verdict, stop acting like brats, and get on with proving their claims that they can get better marketing returns for growers.