QCAR and its Wilmar Sugar supplying members have breathed a collective sigh of relief after the long-awaited union ballot this afternoon revealed a 55% yes vote.

QCAR Chairman Christian Lago said the relief was almost palpable with the end to the prolonged industrial dispute between the two parties coming to end with this resolution.

Continual industrial action across all Wilmar sugarcane milling sites since before the start of the 2024 cane crushing season, had left a trail of angst, uncertainty and financial burden on growers.

Mr Lago said with the potential for an early wet season lurking on the horizon, coupled with the question of how much standover would be left this season, growers were facing significant financial hardship.

“This is not a matter of if there will be standover cane anymore, the only question that remains is how much and that brings with it further flow on costs to growers.” 

He said throughout this dispute QCAR members had been the impacted innocent bystanders unfairly bearing the full brunt of production risk. 

“The frustration of farmers and contractors is clear and justified”. Mr Lago said the focus going forward for all parties must be on a commitment to completing the season.

“We need the only risks confronting our mills now to be ensuring an improved 2025 season and this will require utter dedication to managing mechanical breakdowns, maintenance and the impacts of inclement weather.”

He said there could be no further delays.

“Dealing with increasingly poor mill performance is disruption enough,” Mr Lago said. 

“There can be no further delays and shutdowns as these not only directly impact our growers, contractors and the broader community, but has the flow on impacts through longer season lengths, crop quality and ratooning and overall crop returns.

He said this industrial activity had not only affected the workforce and the entire sugarcane industry but had also been detrimental to Wilmar’s company operations, reputation, and profitability.

“Based on Wilmar’s public statements and statutorily declared numbers, QCAR is completely perplexed at how and why they have continued to burn such enormous amounts of money far beyond the savings they were originally trying to achieve,” he said. 

Mr Lago said Australian sugarcane production was expected to grow at 2.3% and opportunity growth estimated at $3.6 billion over the next five years.

“Our Queensland producers provide high-quality food and fibre to Australian and overseas communities, as well as deliver stewardship of the state’s natural environment.

“For the Australian sugar industry to achieve this, we will be relying heavily on our nation’s largest sugar cane processor Wilmar Sugar Australia to be optimally operating at exceptionally high levels of reliability and productivity.” 

“We now have to question if this is attainable. 

“Therefore, QCAR, with the majority of its current membership being suppliers of Wilmar Sugar Australia, is concerned if Wilmar can recover from these exhaustive Enterprise Bargaining Agreement negotiations,” Mr Lago said.

[ENDS] 

For media interviews or more information, please contact: 

QCACR Board Chairman Christian Lago: 0414 421 723
QCAR CEO Stephen Ryan: 0401 002 322

For further media assistance, please call Sonia Ball on 0467 573 321 or email [email protected]