MILK ZONING DECISION

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25159, 15 April 1947, Page 3

MILK ZONING DECISION

PROTEST BY MAYOR “DISTINCT BREACH OF FAITH ” The Central Milk Council’s refusal to permit the relaxation of milk zoning in Christchurch was described yesterday as a distinct breach of faith by the Mayor (Mr E. H. Andrews). He said that if the Metropolitan Milk Board did not call a public meeting of protest he would call such a meeting. Mr Andrews said that when zoning was introduced he was authorised by the Government to assure the people of Christchurch that it was a war-time measure only, to save tyres, petrol, and manpower. The people had accepted zoning with that assurance. The regulations under which zoning was introduced were made under the Emergency Regulations Act, which gave wide powers for conserving essential materials during the war. The regulations provided for zoning schemes where they were “desirable for the purpose of eliminating any unnecessary waste of essential materials.” The regulations under which was introduced had been revoked,. but the new Milk Act perpetuated zoning in some form. He thought the people would accept it, provided" they were given some freedom of choice, and that ad been provided by the board. Now the Central Milk Council after a rushed sitting, at which the public was given no opportunity of submitting evidence, was simply pandering to the section of vendors that sought retention of their monopoly.' Where was freedom, asked the Mayor, when a person was compelled to buy with his own money just what was dictated to him? These Gestapo methods were eating into the soul of the people.

The reply by the Minister of Health (Mr A. H. Nordmeyer) who presided over the inquiry, would be that the Milk Board should cancel the licences of unsatisfactory vendors but that was not easy to do. It was impossible for inspectors to be on the track of unsatisfactory vendors all the time. The people wanted a choice of vendors, so they could choose not only the quality of the milk but also the service. The only way to obtain both was by competition, not by a monopoly. The chairman of the Milk Board (Mr M. E. Lyons) said yesterday that the board had not been able to interview the Prime Minister (Mr P. Fraser) during the week-end to protest against the overruling of the board’s relaxation of zoning. He hoped the board would be able to see Mr Fraser in the next few weeks in Christchurch. Mr Lyons said he thought the Mayor was the proper authority to call a public meeting of protest.