IN THE HOUSE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 53, Issue 32410, 22 March 1944, Page 4

IN THE HOUSE

ADDRESS BY MR THORN QUESTION OF PRODUCTION POSITION ON HAURAKI PLAINS Position of production in New Zealand as affecting the war effort of the Dominion was the subject of a speech by Mr J. Thorn, M.P., in the House of Representatives last week. Mr Thorn said:—' “Much has been said in this debate aibout the excruciating experiences farmers are suffering at the hands of this cruel and dictatorial Government. It reminds me of the good old days 150 years ago when the farmer’s used to go to church and pray for a long war. Wars were very good customers and while they were being fought prices rose so that vendors of commodities could feather their own nests, while other men were shedding their blood and losing their lives on the 'battlefield. “It is different now. The farmers, ■or rather the agitators amongst them, are complaining because they are not allowing to take advantage of shortages in order to force up prices. That is the real meaning of the threat of the hon. member for Waikato, that the farmers would not cooperate with this Government unless it abandoned all control of the industry. Election Promises “That is the meaning, also, of the promises hawked about New Zealand ■by the leader of the Opposition during the election campaign, that farmers would ibe allowed to fix their own ceiling prices. I know the hon. member for Waikato has denied that, but I want to read the report of the speech delivered during the elections by the leader of the Opposition in Hamilton, where he had to serve up some juicy morsels to the Waikato dairy farmers. The leader of the Opposition when he spoke in Hamilton on September’ 20 last said: ‘The farmer wanted stability in the price paid for his products and not wide variations. The National Party would ■give a minimum price and ask the farmer to fix the ceiling price, which would represent the danger signal.’ What was that, but simply scrounging for votes. Highest Possible Price “The National Party, let me read it again, would ‘give a minimum price and ask the farmer to fix the ceiling price which would represent the danger signal.’ So the sky was the limit, conditioned by the danger signal. “ Now, I have no doubt whatever that the leader of the Opposition meant literally what he sa,id, and I am absolutely certain, too, that lots of farmers in the Waikato believed him. It is clear from this statement that the Opposition is acting as a sort of pressure group to squeeze out of the nation the highest possible price the traffic can pay. “Another statement made by the leader of the Opposition to which I want to refer is that primary production has seriously fallen. The hon. member for Waikato made the same statement. I was alarmed when he was speaking because really he forced up his blood pressure and became quite threatening. Production Has Increased “ Now, the reply to both those gentlemen is that during the war period' primary production has enormously increased. That is clearly £hown in the document issued to all members of the House by the Natioi?al Service Department. So that both those gentlemen either spoke in ignorance of the facts, or they misrepresented them to the public. “The production of wool has increased enormously, so has meat, and so also’ has the area in crops. As a matter ‘of fact, the achievements of the farmers under those headings have beeh, very much greater than the two hon. gentlemen referred to would have the public believe. “The only commodity in connection with which any real apprehension might be felt is dairy produce, but in the first three of war— l 939-40, 1940-41 and 1941-42—the output of dairy produce was maintained at the average per year * for the three-year period immediately before the war, except that in which was a miracle of a pre fiction season, the production was tons higher than the average of .those three years. Production fell in 19-12-43 and 1943-44 and last year it was about 23,000 tons less in butter and cheese than in 194142. We all knew the» reasons. Four Reasons “The reasons were f|our in the main. The first was the changing and chopping from butter to cheese, and then from cheese back to blotter. That had an effect of discouragement upon

there are 75,00’0 cows in milk less than when we came in. That is evidence that a Government cannot he sure that there will he an increase in production merely iby giving an increase in price. “What is needed to-day—and this goes not only for the farmers, ibut also for the watersiders, the miners, and indeed, the whole community—is not a pressure group, but a new spirit throughout the community. Unless we get that —a spirit of service, willingness to co-operate, and sacrifice, so that the war can be won—nothing we may do in the way of mere material reward will get the results that are so necessary for the benefit of the nation.”

many dairy farmers. A second reason was the lack of fertiliser, due to the occupation of Nauru and Ocean Islands ’by the Japanese. The third reason was the labour shortage, and the fourth was the unfavourable weather conditions which prevailed for the last two seasons. The last has been a big factor in the reduction of outpupt of dairy produce. Where the weather conditions have been good production has increased even though there has been a fertiliser shortage and a shortage of labour. “I want to read to the House a paragraph which appeared in the Hauraki Plains Gazette on February 9 last. This will show that dairy production is increasing in the district represented by the hon. uneniiber for Hauraki. The paragraph is as follows: ‘While most other districts are reporting a fall in production due to drought conditions, the reverse is being experienced on the Hauraki Plains, and increases are reported in production generally. For the period ended January 31 as compared with the same period last year the Hauraki Plains Co-operative Dairy Company at Turua reports an increase of a little over 2 per cent. The same number of cows is supplying the factory as in the past.’ Weather To Blame “That seems to show that notwithstanding. the fertiliser and labour shortages production will be increased if the weather conditions are favourable, even though prices of dairy produce are held on their present levels. That paragraph proves, too, that the dairy farmers are willing to co-oper-ate with the Government notwithstanding the alleged disturbing regulations concerning them. “I have been looking for some light on this matter, and I thought I would read the latest annual report of the New Zealand Dairy Board. On page 21 there is a table of figures which have almost driven me to two dreadful conclusions. One conclusion is that if we want the dairy farmers to speed up production enormously with the least possible interference by the Government a good way would be to pay them a price which would threaten about half of them with bankruptcy. The other conclusion is that an increase in price is not necessarily a guarantee that we- will get increased production. Depression Days Quoted “We know that in the ten years prior to 1’935 the dairy farmers doubled their production and yet after doing that their total income at the end of the ten year period was less than it was at the beginning, and half of the dairy farmers were bankrupt. That is historically true. There was no Government interference then.

“ The dairy farmers doubled production and at the end of the ten-year period their total income was less than it was at the begining, and> according to the report of the Royal Commission set up 'by the Government that occupied these benches before the Labour Government took office, one-half of the dairy farmers were unable to meet their commitments. In the years between 1930-31 and 193’5-3’6, the prices received by the dairy-farmers were 7d, ’Bd and 9d per pound. Yet, within that period, they increased the number of cows in milk in the dairy herds of the ’Dominion by 424,000—fr0m 1,499,000 to 1,823,000.

■Mr Holyoake: Which years are these ?

Mr Thorn: This is shown on page 21 of the Dairy Board’s Annual Report. The dairy-farmers gut no Government assistance then. All they got -was a stay order with a budget of £5 a month and an increase in the exchange rate. The most generous proposal that was put forth then to help the dairy-farmers emerged from the mighty mind of the hon. member for Stratford. He proposed that they should be given a repayable advance of lOd per pound, and the gentlemen with whom he is associated now rejected that as too generous and turned it down. Lesson From Statistics “While the dairy-farmers were increasing their cows in milk in these six years 'by 424,000 head', it did not occur to them to ask the then Government that it pay them £350.000 as a subsidy to enable them to rear their own calves. “However, there is the lesson from this table of statistics. The moment this Government came into power, it set about increasing the price to the dairy-farmers. They received an increase of 5d or 6d a pound in the very first year; and last year the pay-out was about Is 5d per pound and the farmers got £1,500,000 to cover increased costs. From the very moment that we gave them the increase in prices, the number of dairy cc-ws in tnilk started to decline, until to-day