PRICE GUARANTEE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 99, 7 February 1936, Page 2

PRICE GUARANTEE

THE DAIRY PRODUCE PAY-OUT. MENTION OF 1» 2d AND 18 3d. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, February 6. Another conference between Ministers of the Crown and members of the New Zealand Dairy Board was held at Parliament House to-day to discuss again the proposals for local and overseas marketing of dairy produce, and the Government’s policy on guaranteed prices. After the conference the Prime Minister (the Hon. M. J. Savage) said: “We have not yet reached finality. Details of the Government’s proposals are being shaped at the present time. A special committee is investigating the question, and the application of guaranteed prices. As the matter will have to be discussed again at another meeting of the Dairy Board, a detailed statement cannot be issued just now. There is no hitch in the negotiations. The whole matter is a question of detail.”' It was gathered from other sources, however, that the Government’s proposals to the Dairy Board include, or at least involve, the determination of the Government to take over the marketing of daily produce, it being contended as a matter of logic that if prices are to be guaranteed by the State, control of marketing must be in the Government’s hands. Ministerial confirmation of this policy was not ascertainable in political circles to-day. It is understood that, according to returns compiled by experts for the Dairy .Board, the average prices for butter and cheese during the last 10 years work out at a fraction over 13d per lb for butter-fat used in the manufacture of butter, and a little more in respect of that for cheese making. During the general election campaign some Labour candidates suggested the average return over the last 10 years as the basis for fixing a guaranteed price, and it is understood that in the present official discussions Is 2d and Is 3d per lb for butter-fat have been mentioned, but nothing lias been decided.