THE GUARANTEED PRICE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22443, 2 July 1938, Page 16

THE GUARANTEED PRICE

RATES RECOMMENDED BY COMMITTEE

GENERALLY HIGHER SCALE PAID BY GOVERNMENT

CFrom Our Parliamentary Reporter.!

WELLINGTON. July 1

The guaranteed prices for the .current season’s purchases of butter, recommended by members of the special committee which reported to the Government last year, were disclosed by the Minister for Education (the Hon. P. Fraser) during the Address-in-Reply debate in the House of Representatives to-day. Three recommendations were submitted to the Government.

Mr Fraser said that five members of the committee had recommended a guaranteed price for butter of 13.16 a three members had recommended 13.57 d and two members had recommended 13.81 d. The price fixed at the beginning of the season was 13.25 d, but this had now been increased to 13.66 d. The latter price was higher, with one exception, than that recommended by any section of the committee. “No one is prepared to face, the dairy farmer and advocate the abolition of the guaranteed price,” said Mr Fraser. “The recent National Dairy Conference, after discussing whether it should trust the Government or a tribunal to determine next season’s prices, voted in favour of the Government.

“The Opposition has been talking about compensated prices and a reduction in costs,” he said. “We have not been told how costs are to be reduced. Is the Opposition in favour of a reduction in tariffs, and if it is, what is going to be done about secondary industries? Does it favour the use of public credit or a reduction in wages? The only other way that costs can be reduced is by a reduction in expenditure on social services, and it would be interesting to know if the Opnosition intends to adopt that course.”