IN SHORT SUPPLY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 September 1942, Page 6

IN SHORT SUPPLY

ORANGES IN NEW ZEALAND.

STATEMENT BY MINISTER

(Bv Telegraph—Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, September 29. When the oranges now in New Zealand are finished it is unlikely that any more will be available except for the Plunket Society and invalids, said the Minister of Marketing, Mr Barclay, at New Plymouth, yesterday, when replying to complaints about oranges being priced at 3d each and 5d for larger sizes. “Oranges are being retailed al Gd each m Australia now.” he said, “and if they were brought to New Zealand they would have to be sold at 8d or 9d. Australia, once a country where oranges could be bought cheaply bv the bucket, has lost that enviable reputation, chiefly because of huge orders for orange juice from the United States armeo fcrces. ,, When he was in Australia early in August, eaid the Minister, large oranges .that would eell in New Zealand at 3>/-d were selling there at 4>Ld each. Bananas were the same price in both countries, but Stunner and Granny Smith apples which retailed at 2 d each in Australia were being sold in Wellington at 4d to 6d a lb. There should be sufficient lemons to meet present needs, though there was a short crop at Tauranga, Mr Barclay said, referring particularly to the New Plymouth market. It had been the custom to import from the islands and from Australia, but shipping difficulties and the Aimy demands in Australia interfered with those sources of supply.