FARMERS9 CONCERN

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31089, 18 June 1966, Page 3

FARMERS 9 CONCERN

The Ladbrooks Young Fanners’ Club is concerned at the attitude of the Government towards American interests negotiating for the purchase of large tracts of farmlands in New Zealand.

Mr R. R. Mclntosh, chairman of the club, said that at a recent meeting it was the unanimous feeling of club members that the Government was exercising a vote of no confidence in both the Lands and Survey Department and the many, many thousands of young men who were striving to get farms. Members felt that the Lands and Survey Department was every bit as capable of developing this land for future settlement as any overseas interests, and that young men had proved their ability to take over blocks of land from the department. For these reasons they felt that the Government should not condone negotiations with overseas interests.

The Government’s attitude on this issue seemed to be inconsistent with the way it had handled Lord Thompson’s bid to take over a newspaper in this country, said Mr Mclntosh.

Club members thought it was ironical that the Government should on the one hand be crying out for overseas funds, and then on the other hand permitting negotiations with overseas-based companies which would be taking their profits out of the country. All sections of the farming industry, and, in fact, all New Zealanders, should bring pressure to bear on the Government because there was a possibility that up to about 60 young farmers could be settled on this land through existing ballot methods, said Mr Mclntosh. The club believed that if this land was purchased a precedent would be created, and if it was right that Australian farmers were concerned at what had happened in' this way in Australia, then the club did not want this to happen here.

Mr Mclntosh said that because 90 per cent of the their members were striving to get farms of their own, they could not sit back and allow the Government to allow a sale of land to overseas interests and so prejudice young farmers’ future. Members of the Meat and Wool section of MidCanterbury Federated Farmers also discussed the bid yesterday but they decided to make no protest until the matter had been discussed at the Mid-Canterbury provincial executive meeting of Federated Farmers in two weeks’ time. Discussions was prompted by a remit from the Pendarves branch: “That this branch strongly, disagree with the sale of land to the Americans at Taupo.” The motion was not put. Mr J. Bruce said the Pendarves branch shared the feelings of Taupo Federated Farmers in that they disagreed with the sale of a large area of land to interests outside New Zealand.

“It is not right that land should be sold outside New Zealand when so many young New Zealand farmers have difficulty in obtaining land,” he said. Mr J. G. Humm said the

section should be careful when discussing the issue as there probably was much more in the sale of the land than present reports indicated. “The matter is to be investigated by the Dominion Executive of Federated Farmers, and we should wait for the findings from that,” said Mr S. 0. Reeves.