Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The price of butter's shot up 65% over the past year - you might have noticed nana's cookie jar's a bit empty lately.  Bakers are buying in bulk from the Aussies, where it's cheaper. Online discussion blames our dairy farmers, the co-op that buys their milk, and the producers who sell it.  But, there are a couple of reason its cheaper there than here.  1) We export a hell of a lot more to the world than the Aussies do.  In 2023, they exported 9.4 tonnes. We exported 441 tonnes. They exported 2% of the quantity we did.  That means our price is more susceptible to the international market price. We export most of our butter, we pay the international price.  Australia on the other hand, eats a lot more of its own and exports less.  This is good and bad. It mean we pay the trade price, yes, but it also means when the price is high, as it has been lately, our largest company Fonterra does well. Our farmers do well. They spend money here and drive growth in our economy which we al