MODEL FOR DOMINION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 95, 19 October 1944, Page 9

MODEL FOR DOMINION

WELLINGTON'S MILK

SUPPLY

DEBATE ON BILL

A start was made in the House of Representatives last night with the second reading debate on the Milk BUI, the purpose of which is to provide for the regulation and control of the supply and distribution of an adequate supply of milk of the best quality at a reasonable price in metropolitan and other t areas. The Minister of Health (Mr. Nordmeyer), who is in charge of the Bill, said that all the evidence produced to the Milk Commission and in the Hands of the Government served to show that the Wellington milk supply was already a model, and that there ■was little required in the way of amendment. For that reason nothing m tne Bill, except the recognition of supply authorities, affected the Wellington city supply.

.The' Minister said that the Bill was brought forward after the investigations of a commission which had been set up because there was dissatisfaction over the milk situation among the producers, the vendors, the local authorities, and above all the consumers. The Government gave serious consideration to the commission's recommendations and they were substantially embodied in the measure. There had already been some misrepresentation and even distortion of what the Bill contained, therefore he would have to mention some of the matters it did not contain. Certain interests who. had been selling milk of an undesirable standard did not ■want* their business interfered with They did not openly say that their profits were in danger, but they suggested that- the Bill contained something harmful to the interests of the consumer. PASTEURISED MILK. The Bill did not force people to buy pasteurised milk, because the Government recognised that, despite the overwhelming weight of informed opinion on the subject, some people still preferred unpasteurised milk. Nor did the Bill provide for a dictatorial central authority. The commission recommended a central authority but the Government felt it would be better to .place the responsibility for a good milk supply upon the local authorities. Possibly some form of central authority might eventually be established to co-ordinate the local efforts. He understood that producer interests favoured the central authority, and if the evidence which.. would be taken by a Select Committee justified such a recommendation it would be seriously considered. '.: The Minister said the Government believed that local authorities must more and more take their share "of government. It might well be that the present proposal would provide justifiable evidence that not less, but more, should be left to local authorities as far as government was concerned. *v. i VC as recognised in the measure that .the old method of relying upon the . individual . producer to 'supply milk /s and when he could was no longer adequate to meet the needs of the .population. For that reason there was incorporated in the Bill an important provision for the recognition of supply authorities who would undertake to supply milk of a certain standard not merely in the summer months but all the year round. MILK PRICES. Experience had revealed the fact that there was an inevitable deterioration in quality when the price had been thrust down. It was for that reason that the Government had given effect to the recommendation of the Milk Commission and had increased the price in certain areas for the purpose. of inducing farmers who had gone off liquid milk production to resume production of a safe and all-rQund-the-year,,svipply,..,,.This,,new- ( incentive was such as should ensure to the public an abundant and safe supEfy m the future. He stressed that the Bui , did hot force municipal ownership but it gave to municipalities the right' to municipalise the .whole or any portion of the milk business. ' . .

Mr. Nordmeyer said the Wellington municipal milk department was not established by a socialist city council but by a socialist-minded city council, consisting of men who would not approve of socialism generally but were strong in their belief that only a socialist milk supply could adequately cope .with the situation then existing and it had done a splendid job

If every part of the Dominion had a milk supply as safe and adequate as that of Wellington there would be no need for the present Bill

The Minister said that it would be a function of the milk authority to see that an economic milk supply was provided in the area and to secure adequate supplies of milk. He added that producer-vendors would have the right in certain respects to vend their own milk. To provide an adequacy of fat it would be necessary for the mdi, yidual suppliers to have certain cows in their herds yielding milk of a high content, such as Jerseys, or" alternatively for the supply authority to ensure that when the milk was bulked an adequate supply of high fat content milk was mixed with the remainder to ensure that :the fat content was' retained. Otherwise what would happen was what happened' in Christchurch, despite efforts to meet the position where it was almost impossible to keen up the- standard as set out in the Food and Drugs Act.

Mr. J. T. Watts (National, Riccarton)-' The weather has a lot to do with that. The Minister agreed that the weather a£ s°metnin § to. do with that position. Bottled and pasteurised milk would not come overnight, continued Mr Nordmeyer, but the Government believed that would be the goal to which the supplier would direct his efforts. The levy which: would be imposed on milk produced in. each area was to meet the expenses of administration and ultimately would be taken into account by the Milk "MarketingDivi™v™«S? n d£f idin S what amount was payable to the producer. The producer was assured of a net price for his product, and the levy was'merely ?inH^T eni enlk metllod of assessing the lability for the necessary funds , Mf. A. J. Murdoch (National, Mars- ™ The consumer will pay that. .Mr. Nordmeyer: He always does. MILK AUTHORITIES. Referring to the recognition of milk authorities, the Minister said there were probably some parts of New Zealand where it was impossible for farmers to organise themselves into one supply association, and therefore the Bill provided for more than one authority. It was not thought desirable, that the producers should be forced into one organisation for one area, and it was still less desirable that there should be one supply association for the whole of New Zealand. There might be a federation, but that was a matter for the producers. The farmers, in their own interests and the interests of the consumers, must cooperate in ensuring an abundant milk 'supply. It was not thought that forcing all producers into one association ■would achieve that object. The person who decided whether a certain organisation should be recognised was an officer of the Marketing Department, but he did so only after consultation with the local milk authority and there was provision for an appeal authority to be set up. The Government had an open mind and was prepared to listen to evidence from interested parties. Where there were omissions in the Bill they would be rectified, and if it were shown that the intention of the Government was not being carried into effect suitable amendments to the measure would be made. GOVERNMENT'S DESIRE. "Irrespective of party," concluded tho Minister, "the House must, after consideration of this Bill, come to the conclusion first, that a measure of some kind is vitally necessary in the interests, of the health and wellbeing of the people of the Dominion, and, secondly, that the measure, in spite of any faults it may contain, shows the Government's earnest desire to put right a system whose evils and ipmisslons have been allowed to exist far 100 long." ■ " I