ALTHOUGH 1922 proved to be another good year for butter manufacture and the new produce department was doing well, mid-April 1823 saw a major turning point in dairy production.

Parliament introduced the Dairy Industry Act to bring about an overall improvement in quality to food production and protect consumers.

While their overall reasoning was applauded, the most controversial aspect was the introduction of building standardisation, which meant that the district’s dairy inspector served notices condemning the buildings of five factories in the region, including Coffs Harbour, Coramba, Raleigh, Bellingen and Gleniffer.

A meeting of factory directors was immediately held with delegates from these factories descending on Coffs Harbour’s Pier Hotel, along with the Chief of the Dairy Board from the Department of Agriculture, who was there to answer questions.

After doing so, he retired from the meeting and the attendees entered into a storm of protest and defiance, primarily over the cost of rebuilding each factory and the differing timeframes allotted to each one in undertaking the work.

In the end, they unanimously resolved that the meeting objected to the Department’s arbitrary manner of administration with regard to the condemning of factories; a copy of the resolution be sent to the members of the district, the Minister, the Primary Producers Union (PPU) and leader of the Country party; and two representatives from each factory board be appointed to work with the PPU to protest against the Dairy Board’s actions.

It was widely believed that the best solution was an amalgamation of factories, as evidenced by a flurry of letters to local newspaper editors debating which factories should merge and where a new factory should be located.

Another meeting was held by factory delegates where several motions were passed to approach the minister, protest and request the rationale behind each factory’s fate, as well as have the PPU explore alterations to the Act and approach the Federal and State Income Tax Commissioners on building depreciation and income tax on reserve funds.

By Karen FILEWOOD