Citrus Embargo Lifted

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25289, 15 September 1947, Page 6

Citrus Embargo Lifted

The lifting of the Government embargo on the importation of citrus fruits from the coastal areas of New South Wales is not less welcome for being 15 years overdue. Imposed at the end of 1932, the embargo was a counter-offensive in a regrettable trade war. Through it, New Zealand potato-growers lost their Australian market and New Zealand consumers lost, and have never regained, their plentiful supply of Australian oranges and lemons. The present Government not only failed to retrieve its predecessor’s blunder but i confirmed and extended it. Neglect- • ing the nearest, cheapest, and most abundant source of citrus fruit, it

merely took measures, often ineffective, to control the prices of the inadequate supplies which , could be obtained elsewhere. Everyone knows the result. A fruit which is of real importance to public health has usually been scarce, often unobtainable, and nearly always expensive. Stubborn politicians on each side of the Tasman invoked much doubtful science in support of the restrictions which they imposed and retained for political reasons. New Zealand potatoes, infected with “ powdery scab ”, were supposed to be a menace to the Australian crops; fruit from the Australian fly districts was supposed to be an even greater menace to the orchards of New Zealand. Experts outside the Governments insisted that with proper supervision and precautions there was no danger either way. It was not long, in fact, before the New Zealand Government dropped its pretence. Towards the end of 1936 the then Minister of Marketing was defending his policy for the sorry reason that the trade balance between the two countries was heavily in Australia’s favour. It is right to take full reasonable care to keep out a very destructive pest which so far has not established itself in New Zealand, even though there is some doubt whether it could survive in our colder climate. The arrangements announced by the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Cullen) for the inspecting and certifying of disease-free Australian orchards to be permitted to ship fruit to New Zealand should amply safeguard New Zealand orchardists. The arrangements should certainly make oranges and lemons cheaper and more plentiful in New Zealand. Mr Cullen has paid some heed to South Island requests for a better supply of fruit; but much will still depend on the efficiency of the importing and distributing system of the Internal Marketing Division. The Government has at long last removed one of the obstacles, selfimposed, to the achievement of the object of its fruit import control scheme which Mr Nash defined as “ adequate supplies ... at all times, “at reasonable prices ”. With what goodwill it has left the public will watch the efforts of the Internal Marketing Division to vindicate this claim in new and more favourable conditions. If it fails, the repeat-edly-pressed claims* of private brokers and importers to be given an opportunity to supply the public’s needs will then be unanswerable.