Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) has renewed its call for strong, enforceable rules on the use of dairy terms after a United Kingdom (UK) court confirmed plant-based products cannot be called “milk”, “butter” or “yoghurt”. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has ruled that manufacturers of plant-based products cannot use dairy terms in ways that mislead consumers about the nature of their products. The recent decision reinforces long-standing protections across the UK, European Union (EU) and the United States (US) that reserve terms such as milk, butter and yoghurt for animal-derived products. Yet the Australian government has just announced it will pursue a voluntary approach to plant-based labelling following its review, rather than enforce clear separation in law. When consumers pick up a product labelled ‘milk’, it should come from a cow – not a marketing department. Consumers should have the confidence that what they are buying is a dairy product with the natural nutritional profile that comes with dairy, not be misled by artificial alternative products suggesting they have the same nutritional benefit. Here in Australia, we’re allowing these products that are engineered through additives and fortification to imply they offer the same benefits as dairy products. We are concerned around the government’s $1.5 million spend on the local labelling review, led by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), which paid Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to conduct a consumer survey. That process concluded there was limited consumer confusion. ADF strongly disputes that conclusion. The survey did not ask meaningful questions about nutritional equivalency claims. If you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t get the right answers. Consumers might know the product is made from oats – but do they understand it is not nutritionally the same as milk? Instead of clear mandatory regulation, the government endorsed the development of a voluntary code of practice to be drafted and led by the Alternative Proteins Council. Allowing the plant-based industry to draft its own standard on the use of dairy terms is fundamentally flawed. A voluntary code does not prevent misuse. Across the EU, the UK and the US, dairy terms are legally protected. Plant-based products cannot be sold with the terms “milk” or “yoghurt”. They may use descriptors such as “style” or “alternative”, but the core dairy term remains reserved. Australia helped write the international Codex standards on what milk is. We accept those rules in international trade negotiations yet refuse to apply them at home. Failing to protect dairy terms domestically weakens the standing of Australian dairy in global markets where those words are legally protected. We are not seeking to remove plant-based products from shelves. We’re calling for clear, mandatory rules so that dairy terms are reserved for dairy. Ben Bennett, ADF president Submissions open for bushfire preparedness and response inquiry Regional communities that endured a devastating summer of bushfires are being urged to have their say, with submissions to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Victoria’s preparedness and emergency response closing soon. The Environment and Planning Standing Committee is examining planning, mitigation, land management and the response to the 2026 summer fires. This is the final opportunity for communities to ensure their experiences are formally heard and reflected in the findings. This inquiry must deliver more than a report. It must lead to real, practical improvements before the next fire season. Across our region, families lived through months of anxiety, loss and relentless pressure. Our farmers, CFA volunteers, emergency service personnel and local communities carried the load when it mattered most. They deserve complete transparency about whether the systems designed to protect them actually worked. The inquiry must closely examine fuel reduction and land management, frontline resourcing, funding allocation and how effectively agencies coordinated on the ground. Too often, reviews repeat the same findings without meaningful change. Regional communities cannot afford another cycle of lessons acknowledged but ignored. This must be a clear-eyed assessment of what worked, what failed and what must change before next summer. I encourage residents, first responders, volunteers, farmers and business owners to lodge submissions before the deadline to ensure regional voices are front and centre. The people on the fireground and in our towns understand better than anyone where the strengths and gaps were. Their experiences must shape the recommendations that come out of this process. Submissions close on 15 March 2026, with the committee due to report by 1 June 2026. Further details, including the Terms of Reference and how to lodge a submission, are available on the Victorian Parliament website. Annabelle Cleeland, Nationals MP for Euroa
