FARMERS WORRIED

Chronicle (Levin), 22 November 1946, Page 7

FARMERS WORRIED

-Press Association

. Questions For Political Leaders STAB1USATION BALANCES

By Telegravh—

WELLINGTON, Nov..2l. ' ilcccntly it was decidcd by Fedorated Earxners to submit a s'erfes of queatibxis oii ni'arketing and other iiiatters to tke Pfimo; Minister and Leader- of the Qppositio.u, says a stateipent . issiied tonigh't. This was considered necessary iu \ ieiv of statements' by' some* Phrliainentary candidatcs that the " balanccs iii the stabilisation accouuts did not- be|png. to thc,producers but to New Zealand. as a whole and aiso by the fact. thati there was some coiifusion hk to. fexaetly What Waa meant by the marketing "proposah. put forward by both parties. The questioiis wore as follow. The -first question was for Mr. Fraser alone 'and the rest were seut to both leaders: . Will the cost of production of - dairy produce be the sole faetof- piit before thc proposed. tribunal on which it will bc required to deterinine the'price to be paid to the producerf ' . ; 'Under your proposed . marketing scheme will the producers'~i'epi'esenta tives be in th& ininority . or . in the inajority? .• ' - Under . your proposed marketing scheme ij\rili the principie . be retained that the net proceeds frorn the sale of produce overseas belqngs to the producers l Will you undertake that all moneys to. the credit of the primary prodjicers ' pool accounts will eontinue-.to belong to the industry coucerned and lie-. under its cpntroi? . Will you aTso. agVee that thc credit balanees remaining 'ip. t'he stabilisation accounts, on thfe 'terpiination of the stabilisation agreemcnt "between the Minister of Stabilisatioii and Farmers; Fedcration on June 18, 1913, will continue to be regarded as the. propert) of the industries concerned, to be disposed of as provided in that agreements l)o you agree to the principle that tlie cqst of holding prices on thc loca] market is the responsibility of the Dominion as a whole and should not be a charge on auy particular industry f Prime Minister 's Beply. From the Prime Minister: "1 would refer you to paragraphs in the policy statement of the Labour Par'ty wliich deals speciiically with some of the questions you raise. A relevant extract is as follovvs: — 'Tlie basis of the Labour Government 's policy towards the dairy industry continues to be the guaranteed price wliich, in the years sinte its inception, has brought to dairy faraners a degree of prosperity and eeonomic security without parallel in the industry 's history ' "The Labour Gov.erument believes the dairy industry as a. whole desires to retain the guarauteed price as the sheet aitelior of its welfare. As the resuit of experience over the last fetv years, however, the Labour Government believes two benciicial changes can be madc in the guarantced price set-up. The first of these cliungps 'is in the direetion of removing t'he. actual' fixihg of the price from an atmo'sphere oi bargaining and negotiation. The cssenct of thc guarauteed price is that it shall be adcquate to eover farmers'. costs and to provide" him with a reasonable standard of living — a Standard of living wliich will rise steadily along-with thc gencral living standards of the conimuuity as a whole. . Investigations iuto thc cust structure of the dairy m dustry liuve uow been carricd sufticicnt ly far to make it possible to hand over

: — r ; to an independeut ' tribunal the tusk oi delermining the guarauteed price from season to season. , It is accordingly thc Gpvernmcnt 's-iutcntion to set up for this purpose a trihuual consisling of two industry repripst\ntatives and two Government representatives, with an independeut, chairman.

"A second changc proposed conccrns the marketing of dairy produce. It is the Labour Government 's desirc that representatives of thc dairy industry who liave a widc and valuablc ' know ledge of its problcms, should partici pate directly in marketing, it is there fore proposed to cet up a Dairy 1'ro-. duets Marketing Authority to wliich will be appointed Government represen tatives and representatives chosen by the dairy industry. The chairuian of this authority will be appointed by the Government after c.oiisultation with the industry. 8ince tlie Government bears the main finaucial liability in eonneC' tion with the guarauteed price, it must retain its voiee in marketing but thc new arrangement ptoposcd here will bo the means of inauguratiug a fruitful partnership between thc Government and industry in the .marketing of dairy products. Details of these proposed changes will, of eourse, be discussed with the industry representatives before being put into force. Use of Funds. "With regard to questions 3 and 4, I would point out that the Government has emphasised on various oceasions that under the stabilisation agrcement, funds remaining in stabilisation and pool accounts will not be used for any other purppsc than for the benefit bf -the industries coucerned. This policy stiil holds and is an esscntial part of the stabilisation agreenient. "With regard to question 5, I would point out that the principle of divoroing local prices for farm produce from overseas fluctuations, has bcen stated on several oecasions, ineluding the original stabilisation announcement iu December, 1912. The basis for the principle is that fluctuations in overseas prices should not be permitted to disorganise our own price structure. Thus the stabilisation policy givos an assurance to producers against price falls overseas and also means that fortuitous price increascs overseas do not mean that the consunier or taxpayer in New Zealand should pay more. At the same'time it is an esscntial part of the stabilisation policy that the producer should receive a return sufiicient to cover his increased cost whether the product is sold on the overseas or local market. "

Mr, Holland Replies. The reply from the Leader of the Opposition is as follows: — "I have to advise that the matter is completely covered by our policy wliich provides for 'producer control' of primary production and marketing. In consequence the replies to your questions can only be as. follow: — "Question 2, the producers' representatives will be in the majority. "Question 3, yes. "Question 4, yes. "Question o, yes."