ORANGE IMPORTS

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23756, 30 September 1942, Page 3

ORANGE IMPORTS

SUPPLIES FOR INVALIDS AND BABIES ONLY MINISTER’S PREDICTION (P.A.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Sept. 29. When the present consignments of oranges in New Zealand are finished it is unlikely that any more will be available, except for the Plunket Society and invalids, the Minister of Marketing (the Hon. J. G. Barclay) explained at New Plymouth yesterday. He was discussing shipping and other wartime difficulties, in reply to complaints about the cost of oranges, some priced at 3d each and larger sizes at sd. "Oranges are being retailed at 6d each in 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 by the bucket has lost that enviable reputation, chiefly because of the huge orders for orange juice from the United States armed forces." When he was in Australia early in August large oranges that would sell in New Zealand at 3Jd were selling there at 4Jd each. Bananas were the same price in both countries, but Stumer and Granny Smith apples, retailed at 2d each in Australia, were being sold at Wellington at 4d to 6d per lb. There should be sufficient lemons to meet present demands, although there was a short crop at Tauranga, The Minister said, referring particularly to the New Plymouth market, that it had been the custom to import from the islands and Australia, but shipping difficulties and Army demands in Australia had interfered with those sources of supply.*'