“Dairy Industry Hit Below Belt”

Press, Volume C, Issue 29554, 1 July 1961, Page 12

“Dairy Industry Hit Below Belt”

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 30. The Government had “hit the dairy industry below the belt” on the local market issue, the chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Products Marketing Commission (Mr It. A. Candy) said today.

Mr Candy, who was addressing the Dominion dairy conference, was referring to the statement made by the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Hayman> earlier at the conference that the Government had decided not to change at present the farmers’ price for butter and cheese sold in New Zealand. He said that in his view the minister had taken up a very poor attitude Last time the leaders of the dairy industry bad discussed the iseue with the minister he had given an assurance that Cabinet would look into it but would not announce its decision without discussing it again with the industry. The next thing the minister had done, Mr Candy said, was to come along to the conference and announce that the decision bad been made. The minister had frankly admitted that the industry was suffering from unfair trading conditions overseas but his statement on the local market had said, in effect, that the dairy farmer was also to get it in the

neck” for what he sold in (New Zealand. This was a poor atttitude for the Govemment to take on the matter. After a series of negotiations the New Zealand Dairy Board had made a request on the local price, which was absolutely fair and generous. If acceded to it would have still meant that the people of New Zealand would be getting their butter cheaper than anywhere else, he said. The conference passed a Palmerston North remit urging the board to continue negotiations with the Government on the issue, and to emphasise the necessity of the industry receiving fair and adequate returns for dairy produce sold locally.