The Long-Awaited Operations Review

Author: Kate Cook

The Long-Awaited Operations Review

Although it has been a while since this review was first announced, the market community can breathe a sigh of relief as the new Victorian Agriculture Minister has confirmed that a review of market operations will begin shortly.

All the way back in August last year our previous Minister for Agriculture, Jaala Pulford, announced that it was “an opportune time to assess the market’s operations and make sure it is set up for sustained success”. At the time this seemed like a big promise without any proof of whether it was actually going to happen; it is clearly what the market needs but it also seemed like the perfect promise to placate frustrated market users.

Although this announcement was made over 10 months ago it is nice to know that someone was paying attention to their department’s past promises; our new Victorian Agriculture Minister, Jaclyn Symes, has honoured this commitment and has recently signed off on the Terms of Reference which identify what specifically will be reviewed.

This review is vital. The concern that the Melbourne Market community has for their future is palpable and desperately needs to be addressed through a thorough look into the practices of the market authority and how things are being run. With unreasonably high costs, poor management, and repeating issues of uncompetitive market practices, it is high time that the market’s operations were properly analysed and, if necessary, someone is held accountable and better systems are put in place.