Butchers And Lifting Of Price Control

Chronicle (Levin), 11 August 1949, Page 3

Butchers And Lifting Of Price Control

WELLINGTON, August 10. The lifting this weqk of price eontrols on retail meat prices, was dedebated in the House of Representatives today during a discussion of Ministerial replies to questions. Mr J. T. Watts (St. Albans) said the removal of eontTol had cb'me tob late but was an acknowledgement that the price control system had ffiiled., Under the system obtaining until the end of last week, butchers had been una'ble to obtain adequate supplies of meat at the regulated wholesale prices. Mr P. G. Connolly (Dunedin Cehtral') said that since control was abolished last Friday, the price of ttnittbn had risefi 34d iU Dunedin and beef had gbne up 3d a lb, yet one buteher — one Whose business was one of the largest in Dunedin — had said that an. inerease of .ld per lb. was adequate. The inereases which butchers had imposed should be a warning of what would happen if the National.Party gained offiee. Mr C. M. Bowden (Karori) said that if cofitrols were reinstated there would again be a shortage of supphes. Mr R. G. Garard (Ashburton) asked if the buteher in Dunedin to whom Mr Connolly referred, Who was content to raise his prices only ld a lb., was the inan who for years past had enjpyed the advantagep of a contract with State departments for the supply of meat from Government farms. Mr Gerard said the decontrolling should have taken place before the winter. Mr P. Ivearins (Waimarino) said the price control was lif'ted because there wete adequate supplies of first class meat iil reserve in th'e f'reezing works, which the butchers could draw on if st'ock prices b'ecame tbo high. If the people of Ndw Zealand lmew the quality of some of the uteat they ate, the grading systein whicfi applied to overseas meat would rapidly be applied to the domestic markets, as it should be. At present first class Uieat was being kill'ed for ihe Iocal markets but for six Uionths of the year most of the meat sold in New Zealand shops was from culled dairy cows. Such meat could be sold to those who wished to buy it but it should not be sold at prices ruling for prime ox beef. Mr A. G. Sutherland (Hauraki) said New Zealanders were good judges of meat. He could always rely on his wife to obtain a good quality joint. Mr T. Skinnter (Tamaki) said meat was now plentiful and there was no excuse for this Week's price inerease. Mr Nordrneyer said that he did not think large inereases in meat prices were justified. The Government decided that the decontrol period should be brought forward a little to allow butchers to reeoup the increased cost of meat. The butchers themselves had the matter largely in their own hands and if they paid reasonable prices for stock and their eharges for meat were reasonable, there would be no complaints but if they took advantage of the decontrol of prices, they would have themselves only to blame. Mr C. F. Skinner said that competition among the master butchers themselves had put up prices for stock' but if they were to bid up to reasonable levels for the stock that they required, they would have no difiieulty in making their business pay. He had discussed the positiou with many butchers and there was not one who said he could not make his business pay if he could purchase stock at sehedule price.