CONTROVERSIAL egg farmer Allan “Swampy” Marsh is using his by-election campaign to step up efforts to lift restrictions on the sale of raw milk in Victoria.
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Mr Marsh, an Independent candidate for the seat of South West Coast, is continuing to defy the state government by selling unadulterated raw milk in Melbourne.
His battle with authorities over his sales of raw milk was among the reasons why he decided to stand as an Independent, he said.
Mr Marsh said regulations brought in this year requiring raw milk suppliers to change its taste, texture or aroma to deter human consumption were invalid and he was not abiding by them
“They do not have a leg to stand on,” he said of the state government’s position.
Mr Marsh said the government’s position was preventing south-west farmers from tapping into the lucrative market for raw milk.
“People want it,” he said.
The licence conditions were introduced following the death of a three-year-old child on the Mornington Peninsula last December after consuming raw milk from a Gippsland dairy.
Four other children, aged between one and five, also became ill after drinking raw milk late last year.
However Mr Marsh said the connection between the children’s illness and raw milk was dubious and the incidents were being used “as a bogeyman to demonise raw milk.”
“This is all about bureaucracy trying to keep themselves employed,” he said.
Mr Marsh said raw milk could be sold legally in Queensland and could be bought at the farm gate or delivered to customers’ doors in New Zealand.
He said raw milk had health benefits above those of pasteurised milk.
The new state regulations have stopped him selling raw milk, or “Bath Milk,” as it was labelled, to shops but he is now selling it through an online service for $4.50 a litre to customers in Melbourne.
He said the strong demand for the product was indicated by 600-700 litres a week supply that had been built up in the past six weeks since the online service was established.
That sales volume was about half the volume sold into Melbourne last year before raw milk was linked by the government to the children’s illnesses.
The labels on the raw milk sold by Mr Marsh no longer describe it as “Bath Milk” but have his telephone number on them to allow consumers to contact him if they have any concerns about the milk.
Mr Marsh obtains the raw milk from about 12 dairy farmers in the south-west, varying his suppliers to make it difficult for authorities to locate them.
