WHEAT DEAL CLOAKED IN SILENCE

Chronicle (Levin), 14 September 1946, Page 7

WHEAT DEAL CLOAKED IN SILENCE

—Press Association

Statement Promised But Not Till Governraent Ready

. By ■ Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, Sept. 13. Al)3ence of information on arrangoments made with Australia for exvra wheat in X'ew Zealand, promotod a lengthy discussion in the House of Eepresentatives today. Mr. T. L. Mucdonaid (Mataura) said that it was estimated that the expenditure on wheat subsidy this year Avould be £1,750,000, which was £901,000 more than was spent last year. The public should know that this subsidy and the enormous increase provided for this year were not for tne benelit of the A ew Zealand wheatgrower; it was a subsidy to keep the jmiee of bread ' down, not the price of wheat up, and New Zealand wheatgroivers received very Jittle of the subsidy, which would mrgeiy be absorbed m paying for Aus1 traliau wheat bought at a mucli higher ;price than was paid to the New Zealand growers. New Zealand growers were to receive this year 7s Id per bushel, plus any agreed udjustuients to meet cost increase, but Australiaa wheat was cost- , lng the country 11s per bushel in bulk and 11s Od }>er bushel bagged. Mr. Macdoiiald said that the New . Zealand wheatgrowers had pressed for •Ss per bushel this year biit agreed to . is ld largely as a result of information given to them that Australian -wheat >vpuld De bought by the Government for ; is' 9d. f.o.b. Australian ports, which was ihe equivalent of ubout 7s or 7s 3d land •ed in New Zealand. That information could have como only from Government riou/ces, .yet subaequent to the Minister of lndUstrieS and Commerce (Mr. Hullivan) slating that Australian wheat »\ouid be bouglit l'or 5s 9d. f.o.b., it was ••taied iu Canberra on August 20 by Mr. ocully,' that no agroement for future j. iieat saies with Zealand had been .mlde, " Mr. Macdonald said that New •Zealand wheatgrowers had accepled u lower price than they sought becuuse they were told that Australian wheat jvould be imported at a price substautially lower than was, in fact, now bemg- paid for. The tactics employed by the' Minister suggested loaded dice or marked cards, declared Mr. Macdonald, and those praetiees always evoked disgust among fair-minded people. The Minister' might have an explanation, out if so, he should havo uiado it earlier ihan this. Apparently the Minister considered that tiro cnd justilied the means, i.nd was little.troubied by scruples. Mr. It. -G. Gerard (Alid-Canterbury) said that the Minister of Industries and Commerce had fuiled to recognise the ieriousness of the position, and, unless .ie stated the position clearly, no one Aouid have coulidence in any agreemcnt uude with him or the Government. Mr. U. C. lvidd (Waitaki) suggested that the election in Australia was the reason why the Minister of Industries and Commerce did not want to reply, because he would put the Australian Minister of Agriculture "in thc cart". The Government was too rnean to pay a decent price to the wheatgrowers and the Miiiistiy, Was h'e^pkhg. t-liot rgnpwers down on the bread line in order to provide a cheap loaf of bread. Alr. T. II. McComb (Lyttelton) said that the discussions with the wheatgrowers based ou production costs were .still going on. Mr. Ilolland: Then there may be an im-rease even yetf Alr. AlcCombs: Yes. Alr. Holland: There is an election in rhe othng, -apparently. Minister 's Silence, Alr. F. W. Doidge (Tauranga) said that the Minister of Industries and Commerce was sitting through ihe debate in complelo siJence, despite the fact that charges against hiui were as serious as anv evor made in the House. When the Minister remained absolutely dumb, what constructiou could be placed on his silence f Was he afraid of coriiounding Alr. Scully before the Australian elections a fortniglit hence, or was lie afraid of prejudiciug his own party's prospects at the fortllcoming •lections in this country! Mr. Clyde C'arr (Timaru) said that ihe Oppositiou wo.uld like lo draw the Miuister. Mr. Gerard: MTc want the trutli. Oppositiou voices: Is there some.hing to hidef | Mr. Carr declared tliat the return to tlie old sliding seale systeui of paying i'or wheat would mean a rise in. tlie prieo of bread and llour to New Zealand cousumers. Purpose of Subsidy. IJon. W. Nash said that it seemed the desire of the Oppositiou to get the Government to hiko part in the Australian election. There could be no questiou of chailenging thc integritv of Ihe Minister of Industries and Commerce. Alr. Gerard: Does that indieato tliat Mt. Scully 's statement was wrong? i Alr. Nash said it was correct to say that the n\ajor purpose of thc wheat subsidy was to muintain the price of i bread. It was Uni'air to questioii the bona iides of tlie wheatgrowers wlio had produced more. He said that tlie aver-s age yield between 1931 and 1939 was | 7,100,000 bushels,. and for 1910 to 1915 it was S, 107,000 bushels. If all ihe, wheat required were to be grown in this , country, an area of between 300,000 and ' 100,000 acres would be needed, but did we have the right tvpe of land? Mr. Holland: The Wheat Committee snys we liavc. Mr. Nash said that he doubted if there vtas that area. He went on to say tliat the Alinister of Industries and Commerce had said tliat tlie price to be paid was 7s ld. plus agreed increased C03tS. Aif. .Holland: You won't get the people to grow wheat until tliey know what they are going to get for it. Afr. AlcCombs: They used to. Alr. Nash said that at no time had the growers asked i'or more than 8s per bushel and they were told that if they could show that their costs warranted, they would receive tliat price. Al'embers from the wheat -growing electorates were less concerned with a f'air price for growers than they were with participating in the Australian elections, but he was treinendously- pleased that Alr. Sullivan had refuaed tn allow himself to "

bo drawn into intcrveniug in' those elec tions. "I do not want to go into the question of wheat, .althougii 1 could il' time were opportune, " said Alr., Nash. A chorus of mterjections at tliis stage prompted the Chairman of Committees (Alr. It. AlcJxh4n) to ask meiu bers on both sides to refrain from interjecting. Alr. Doidge: If every member were as silent as the Alinister of Industries and Commerce,- there would be no ditiiculty. Not Yet Says Minister. The Alinister of Industries and Commerce (Alr. Bullivan) said tliat niembors of the Oppositiou were jisking for full information regardiug tlie Australian .arrangenient. He recognised tlie right of the House to ,have full informatiou on the agreement and discussions he had in Australia, but he did uot propose to make statements now because that it would be unfair to precipitate himself into the Australian contro versv which was talcing place. The actioh he was taking was fair to both sides and he tliouglit he was taking tlie right courso by refraining from inaking a stateuient at present. A full statement would be.made in the House at soine time during the discussion on the Estimates. Alr. J. Acland (Temuka) said growers and fariners wantod to know what the Goveruinent 's wheat policy was and if more wheat was Lo be grown, would tlie Government meet tlie increased costs which would arise when niargina! land wus brouglit into production. Until there wus an aiuiuuuceiiieuL of the Government 's policy no more wlioat would be grown becauso tlie Aliuisler oi Lndustries aud Commerce had lost tlie c'oufidence oi' tlie growers. Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Centrai Otago) said tlie issue could not be evuded because the hoiiour of the Government had been directly assailed by a responsible Alinister in Australia. The shurtage of wheat was going to cost tne taxpayers of tliis country a cousidcrable sum if tlie statement o^' tlie Austrulian j Alinister was' to be believeil. Tlie cJeiu 1 duty of the Govoniment wus, regard less j' of cousequeuces, to tell the trutli, Ihe whole truth aud nothing but tlie truin Alr. J. T. Watts ( Rici-nrton) said j there had been one story told in New | Zealand and oue story told in Australia but ncver a clear ansvver-- from th. i Alinister of Industries aud Commorce. It was not a questioii of interfering with Australian politics but examining our own. It looked as if the New Zea land and Australian Goveruments had got their heads togiiilier and decided that they wcmld liang together and noi separately. ' ' Supported by Prime Minister. Support for tlie ^hind takou by the Alinister of Industries' aud Commerce iu prouiising to make a statement on the wheat transactitms v itli Australia when he considered it apjiropriute to do so, and not before, whs , voiced by the j Prime Minister, li'oMi.f P. TYaser, wliot had been absent froui tlie Ilouse during j the morning. He .declared that the j Government had no intentioii of follow- ! ing any course other than tliat outlined by Alr. Hullivaii. -„ t j