AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT IN RELATION TO PETITION No. 59 OF 1949, OF THE ALLIANCE FREEZING CO. (SOUTHLAND), LTD., AND 629 OTHERS (Mr. ORMOND WILSON, Chairman)

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1949 Session I, I-10a

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1949 NEW ZEALAND

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT IN RELATION TO PETITION No. 59 OF 1949, OF THE ALLIANCE FREEZING CO. (SOUTHLAND), LTD., AND 629 OTHERS (Mr. ORMOND WILSON, Chairman)

Laid Upon the Table of the House of Representatives

REPORT

I have the honour to report that the Committee has carefully considered the petition, and is of the opinion that—(l) In the past, conditions in the freezing industry in Southland have not been satisfactory, nor has the labour been sufficient or the general killing facilities adequate for the needs of the primary producers of Southland. (2) This was due to a variety of causes, some of which could have been remedied earlier by the Meat Board had it exercised its potential authority to a greater extent. (3) The Committee is satisfied on the evidence presented to it that conditions in these works have improved in recent years and are not now materially different from conditions in the freezing industry in other parts of New Zealand. (4) As far as actual capacity is concerned, it would appear that, with the present and projected extensions to the existing works, there is no need for any new works to be built in Southland in the immediate future. (5) To build works for which there is no immediately apparent need would not only be wasteful of labour and material, but would also, when such works came into operation, reduce the throughput of, and draw labour from, the existing works to an extent that would render their operations uneconomic. This would inevitably react to the disadvantage both of the workers in the industry and of the farmers of Southland.

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(6) As to the future, the Committee considers that it will be the duty of the Meat Board, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, to keep a close and accurate check on the numbers of stock leaving Southland for killing at works north of Balclutha, and alsoi to keep a record of all other relevant data, including the increase in the number of breeding-stock in the province. In the Jight of this information, the whole position should be regularly and periodically reviewed by the Meat Board and the Government, in consultation with Federated Farmers, Southland. It will then be the responsibility of the Meat Board and the Government to determine when it becomes economic to grant a licence for a new freezing-works. The Committee further desires to put on record that —• (7) It endorses the announced policy of the Meat Board with regard to the control of freezing-works in New Zealand, and considers that, in the interests of primary producers and of New Zealand's economy generally, any further extension of the control of the meat-processing industry in this country by overseas concerns is undesirable and should be prevented. (8) And, finally, the Committee also records its "approval of the general policy of Federated Farmers to encourage producer control of the processing and marketing of primary products. The Committee therefore believes that the Meat Board should foster the development of New Zealand owned works, especially of those in which the producers have the major control, and should take every opportunity open to it to prepare the way towards co-operative ownership of this industry, in which so many workers are engaged and with which the farmers are so vitally concerned. After having carefully considered all the evidence submitted, and having come to the foregoing conclusions, the' Committee is bound to report that, on the petition before it, it has no recommendation to make. Ormond Wilson, Chairman. 12th October, 194-9.

Price 3d.]

By Authority: R. E. Owen, Government Printer, Wellington.—l 949.

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