NO TRIBUNAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 June 1938, Page 7

NO TRIBUNAL

THE FIXATION OF DAIRY PRICES CONTINUANCE OF PRESENT METHOD. STATEMENT BY MR SAVAGE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. In view of the rejection by the National Dairy Conferences at New Plymouth of the proposal for the establishment of an independent tribunal comprising of a Supreme Court judge and two assessors, one appointed by the Government and one by the industry, to fix the guaranteed price for dairy produce, it is not the intention of the Government to proceed further with the proposal. Announcing this in an interview last evening, the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon M, J. Savage, said the only thing to be considered now was what provision could be made for proper evidence to be given for its own benefit and for the benefit of the Government in determining the price. “The only conclusion I can come to is that those who asked for a tribunalwith a judge as president to fix the price did not represent the dairy farmers at all,” Mr Savage said. “During my tour of the southern part of the North Island last week I did not meet one man who wanted it. They all told me that they would rather deal with the Government. It is quite clear from the decision of the conference that they have more confidence in the present method of fixing the price than they would have in any less authoritative institution or tribunal.” VIEWS OF CONFERENCE. The conference, as reported yesterday, gave its support to a report urging the appointment of an advisory body to make recommendations to the Government as to prices, leaving with the Government the responsibility of fixing them. This advisory body, the conference suggested, should consist of three members appointed by the industry, three appointed by the Crown and a judge of the Supreme Court appointed after consultation with the other six members. Commenting on this proposal, the Prime Minister said that as long as the industry wanted the Government to have the last say, it could do any of three things—adopt the recommendation of the tribunal, make the figure less, or make it more. “So why have the tribunal at all?” he asked. Mr Savage said he regarded the New Plymouth conference as sufficiently representative to enable him to say, in view of the decision made, that the Government would not be held up by waiting for any further representations in the matter. By the end of July the Government would be right into the responsibility of being able to tell the farmers what they could expect for their next season's produce. RESPONSIBILITY ACCEPTED. “It is quite evident to me, from the decision of the conference and from what I have seen myself, that it would not be right to force a tribunal on the industry,” the Prime Minister continued. “We never had any intention in the v 'de world of attempting to try to hi<_ oehind any tribunal. The suggestion of a tribunal came from a conference of the industry in the first place. “At a conference of the dairy industry called by the Dairy Board and held on March 1, the Minister of Marketing, the Hon W. Nash, told the delegates that if they wanted a tribunal he would go to Cabinet and recommend that they have it, but he also said he did not think it would be in the interests of the industry to adopt that procedure. “The only thing to be considered now is what provision we can make for proper evidence to be given by the industry itself for its own benefit and for our benefit in fixing the price. We want to do justice. They talk about compensated prices, but there is nothing that can be left out of account under the system we are operating today. Costs and everything else relating to life on the dairy farms has to be considered, and will be considered, before we can intelligently fix the price. We want all the representative evidence we can get that the dairyfarmers can offer." ASSESSORS ELECTED. PROPOSED ADVISORY BODY. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, June 24. ■Representatives of the National Dairy Association to confer with the Dairy Board in the selection of the dairy industry’s assessors on the advisory body on guaranteed prices suggested by the National Dairy Conference yesterday were appointed by the conference today. They are the president, Mr A. Morton, Mr A. J. Sinclair (Te Awamutu) and Mr W. Marshall (New Zealand Cooperative Dairy Company, Ltd).