The Fight for Fair Returns
For Queensland sugarcane growers, fair returns have always been a matter of survival. From the industry’s earliest days to the challenges of deregulation and global markets, CANEGROWERS has played a central role in ensuring growers have a voice in how prices are set and returns are shared.
The problem growers faced
From the beginning of Queensland’s sugar industry, growers operated in an uneven system. Mill owners controlled processing, infrastructure and access to markets, while individual growers had little leverage over the price paid for their cane.
Without transparency or enforceable rules, growers were often left accepting terms they could not influence. Seasonal risks, rising costs and volatile markets meant that pricing arrangements were not just commercial issues – they determined whether farms could survive.
This imbalance was one of the core reasons growers organised in the first place.
Organising for fairness
CANEGROWERS emerged as a collective response to these pressures. By uniting growers, the organisation helped push for pricing systems that were fairer, clearer and enforceable.
Over time, this advocacy contributed to the introduction of arbitration mechanisms, pricing oversight and more structured commercial arrangements. These reforms did not eliminate conflict, but they ensured growers were no longer negotiating in isolation.
For many growers, this marked the difference between uncertainty and confidence – between reacting to decisions made elsewhere and having a seat at the table.
A turning point – deregulation
The deregulation of the sugar industry in 2006 fundamentally reshaped pricing and marketing arrangements. Long-standing statutory protections were removed, and growers were exposed more directly to global market forces.
While deregulation brought opportunity, it also shifted risk back onto farms and intensified existing power imbalances, particularly as milling ownership consolidated. Pricing transparency and bargaining power once again became critical issues.
CANEGROWERS played a central role during this transition, advocating to ensure deregulation did not come at the expense of growers’ rights or long-term viability.
Modern advocacy in a deregulated industry
In the years that followed deregulation, CANEGROWERS led sustained efforts to rebalance commercial relationships across the industry. This included advocacy for grower choice in sugar marketing arrangements and support for regulatory reforms designed to strengthen transparency and accountability.
One of the most significant outcomes of this work was the introduction of a mandatory industry Code of Conduct, aimed at providing growers with clearer rights, dispute resolution pathways and greater confidence in commercial negotiations.
These reforms reflected a consistent principle that has guided CANEGROWERS for a century – growers deserve fair returns and a meaningful say in decisions that affect their livelihoods.
Why it still matters
The mechanisms have changed, but the issue has not. Pricing power remains central to grower confidence, investment and generational continuity.
A century on, CANEGROWERS’ role in advocating for fair returns continues to evolve, but its purpose remains unchanged – ensuring growers are treated fairly in an industry where balance must be actively maintained.