Dairy industry
Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education, Minister for Agriculture) (09:47): I rise today to mark some fantastic achievements by the dairy industry in Western Victoria. Western Victoria’s great-tasting fresh milk helps to explain the outstanding medal tally at the Dairy Industry Association of Australia awards recently. Around three-quarters of the DIAA awards were won using milk from my electorate. The Colac–Cobden region performed particularly well, with Bulla Dairy Foods winning 13 gold and 56 silver medals. Fonterra’s Cobden site, the home of Western Star Butter, won 15 medals overall. And I give a shout-out too to some of our smaller producers who scored highly, including Dooley’s ice cream from Apollo Bay, Apostle Whey Cheese from Cooriemungle and Aussie Farmers Direct from Camperdown. Congratulations to new producers in Colac Jiwanpreet and Anmol Sharma, who have been using Birregurra milk to make paneer and natural yoghurt since just last year, having arrived in Australia in 2016.