Chile boycott ‘stupid’

Press, 21 April 1979, Page 22

Chile boycott ‘stupid’

Little wonder that the question, “Who the hell is running this country?” was being asked, said the chairman of the Dominion agriculture section of Federated Farmers (Mr A. L. Mulholland) recently. He was referring at a meeting of the section’s council to the Federation of Labour’s continuing stand on the banning of the loading of ships for Chile. Federated Farmers had in vain approached the Federation of Labour to have the ban lifted, he said.

“In my opinion this stubborn refusal to lift the ban is the height of stupidity. It is denying the farmer the opportunity to diversify into another market, which was showing encouraging signs of expansion. Exports of

seeds to Chile in 1973-74 were worth $579,000. By 1974-75, the figure had trebled to $1,599,000. At that point shipments ceased, and a promising outlet was lost,” Mr Mulholland said. Seeds were not the only commodity affected. Considerable prospects for dairy exports were also being jeopardised. “I appeal to Sir Thomas Skinner to show responsibility by lifting that senseless ban,” said Mr Mulholland. “As far as I can ascertain, New Zealand is the only country which has refused to change its attitude on this matter. With our balance of payments in such a critical state, any action which prevents us from exporting must be considered irresponsible in the extreme.”