The Evening Star THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1934. AUSTRALIAN-NEW ZEALAND TRADE.

Evening Star, Issue 21752, 21 June 1934, Page 8

The Evening Star THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 1934. AUSTRALIAN-NEW ZEALAND TRADE.

The experts, representing Australia and New Zealand, who met thr. week at Canberra to discuss resumption of the trade in fresh fruit and vegetables between Australia and New Zealand have been expeditious ancl have, we believe, come to the right decision. It now remains to be seen whether the Governments concerned will act on the experts’ recommendations. It is only in accordance with past experience to expect that sectional interests will at once endeavour to bring pressure to bear on Ministers to ignore what the Federal Minister of Health describes as findings based on scientific evidence. For example, Tasmanian and Victorian potato growers are sure to be perturbed over the reappearance of South Island shipments on the Melbourne and Sydney markets; while citrus growers in Tauranga will probably again insist on their ability to so supplement supplies from the Islands that New Zealand’s consumptive demand can be fully met without importations from Australia. This claim, most of the public will agree, verges on the absurd. Consumptive demand, especially when .the purchasing power of the majority is well below normal owing to general depression, is largely a matter of price. During the irregular intervals when it has been legal to bring citrus fruit from Australia to New Zealand consumptive demand showed a most surprising elasticity, simply because the fruit was available at prices which placed it within reach of people previously forced to regard it as a delicacy only to be indulged in on rare occasions. Taken as a whole, it cannot be claimed that the primary producers of this country—or possibly any other—are consistent in this matter of market regulation. When Britain, in the interests of her own farmers, suggested the application of quotas the 'concern among our farmers was just as intense as that which will presently be shown by our citrus growers (and which has already been shown by apricot and peach growers) over the admission of fruit from Australia. If our producers insist on the right to continue flooding with dairy produce a London market heavily glutted with supplies and meanwhile declaring that they are doing so at a loss, they should not object when Australian producers find a ready market here (indicating previous under-supply) for another commodity at prices which are satisfactory to both XJarties to the transaction. It need not be inferred that, because Australian citrus growers have been barred from our market, they have had their export surplus thrown back on their hands. At the end of last season the Federal Minister for Commerce (Mr Stewart) said that “ one of the results of the loss of the New Zealand market for citrus fruits had been the development of a market in England. This year 80.000 bushels had been shipped. Previously the greatest export had been 14.000 bushels. Shipments sold in London brought prices which were profitable to growers.” Nevertheless, there is every reason to believe that Australia is keen for re-entry into this market, and the public, especially in the South Island, is equally keen for renewal of the opportunity to buy oranges and lemons at prices which make it fair ' to describe present prices for other supplies as “ famine prices.” At any rate, it is stated on good authority that New Zealanders pay more for such fruits than the people of any other country in the world. There has always been a strong suspicion in the public mind that embargoes on cither shore of the Tasman Sea were not based on scientific but on selfish reasons, and that

there has been a distinct tendency for them to extend through the adoption of a retaliatory policy on both sides. The “ scientific ” myth has now been dispelled by the experts at Canberra, and it remains for the Governments concerned to act up to the professions they are wont to make on what are known as “ Imperial ” occasions and allow trade reciprocity to be practised instead of conniving at trade embargoes. If the bargaining spirit has still H bo taken into account, it must not be forgotten that New Zealand has no credit balance in the matter, for our virtual exclusion of Australian wheat and flour through the operation of the New Zealand sliding scale tariff is a far bigger item than any other on either side.