New South Wales Country Hour
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Murray Irrigation caught overcharging customers
Murray Irrigation has come under fire from Australia's competition watchdog for overcharging customers.
The company was forced to pay back $115,000 to irrigators after charging them too much to leave the industry, through termination fees.
It will pay back a further $220 to 114 irrigators for a fee charged for processing termination applications.
Joe Dimasi from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says the breach was discovered after a routine audit.
"What Murray Irrigation was doing, was that is was providing a discount on its network access charge," he says.
"By law they were required to charge ten times the charge minus the discount.
"They didn't take into account the discount, as a result their customers were paying too much in termination.
"Once they realised they were overcharging, they agreed to refund the money and we made that a formal requirement."
Murray Irrigation says its been co-operating with the ACCC for some time.
General Manager Anthony Couroupis admits rules for termination fees are complicated.
He says the company misinterpreted the rules which lead to overcharging irrigators.
"The complexity of these rules is a challenge for all irrigation infrastructure companies
"The cost of complying with these rules are all costs that are being returned to our customers through water charges."
In this report: Joe Dimasi, commissioner, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; Anthony Couroupis, general manager, Murray Irrigation Limited
Call for national rural land register
There are growing calls for the creation of a national register of foreign purchases of land or water in rural Australia.
The idea has been floated by both the Federal Opposition and the Greens.
It comes as concern mounts about Australia's food security, with foreign interests buying large parcels of farmland.
The Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown, who was in central-west NSW yesterday, says a national register is long overdue.
"It is important Australians know who owns the productive farmlands and water rights of our country.
"Currently there is no register [of foreign purchases of rural land or water], except in Queensland.
"The Foreign Investment Review Board only looks at purchases when they are in excess of $231 million.
"But of course most sales don't come into that category.
"Ownership can lead to control of markets for food and therefore food prices, so it's important we know who owns what.
"New Zealand has a register and Australia should catch up."
The idea has the support of the Federal Opposition.
Nationals MP John Cobb is the Opposition's spokesman on agriculture and food security.
He says a national register is vital.
"I think there is a good case for the Federal Government and the Department of Agriculture being aware of how much agricultural land in Australia is owned by foreign interests.
"Why should the Government not be aware of who owns a proportion of Australia that they need to know about."
But Labor says there are already measures in place to safeguard Australia's food security.
It says current foreign investment policy allows the Government to review significant foreign investment proposals on a case-by-case basis.
By law all foreign governments, or any company owned by them, must notify the Foreign Investment Review Board and receive an approval, before making a direct investment in Australia.
Those investments could be for $1, or $1 billion dollars.
In this report: Nationals MP John Cobb; Greens leader Bob Brown.
Australian Pork Limited
Australian Pork Limited has criticised Coles moves to stop buying pork from producers who use sow stalls by 2014.
CEO Andrew Spencer says the decision unfairly discriminates against Australian producers.
Coles has announced it will only buy fresh pork from producers who do not use gestational stalls for sows after 2014.
Andrew Spencer says that will make it even harder for Aussie pig producers to get a fair go because costs will go up.
Also the limit only applies to fresh meat, meaning imported deli products like ham and bacon are not subjected to those rules.
Smallgoods make up 65 percent of Coles total pork sales.
Australian Pork Limiter is pushing for change on the issue to be industry driven.
In this report: Australian Pork Limited CEO Andrew Spencer
Price drop bad news: Farmers
The drop in price offered for milk from Dairy Farmers Cooperative suppliers has prompted one Hunter Valley dairy farmer to suggest more producers could leave the industry.
The Dairy Farmers Milk Cooperative announced a drop in price of around five per cent on last year's base price to 47 cents per litre.
Jerry's Plains dairyman, Col Gee says the price drop would translate to a drop of $18,000 per month for his operation.
In this report: Col Gee, Dairy Farmer
Rise in cases of pregnancy toxemia
Sheep breeders are being urged to watch out of cases of a potentially fatal condition in pregnant ewes.
A number of cases of pregnancy toxemia have been reported to the Lachlan Livestock Health and Pest Authority.
It's caused when pasture doesn't provide enough nutrition for heavily pregnant ewes.
A senior vet with the Lachlan LHPA, Elizabeth Braddon, says hand feeding grain can prevent the condition.
"In the last couple of weeks I would have had at least six to 10 calls in my office alone about the condition."
In this report: Elizabeth Braddon from the Lachlan LHPA.
