Reason For Decision On Wool Payments

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31768, 27 August 1968, Page 11

Reason For Decision On Wool Payments

The electoral committee of the Wool Board feels that the woolgrowing industry should not go on borrowing money to keep up supplementary payments to growers, the chairman of the committee, Mr F. E. Humphreys, said in Gisborne.

Mr Humphreys had been asked why the electoral committee opposed the continuation of these payments, through the Wool Commission, to help growers whose prices fall below a certain level.

It was felt, he said, that by continuing the payments the industry would only be adding to its future burdens. The floor-price system had been intended to cushion a sudden decline in prices to growers, and most members of the committee had felt that this objective had been achieved. It was, nevertheless, rea. i lised that many farmers were in need of help to tide them lover the lower prices, but at the same time there were ' many who did not need help. Thus, under a blanket sysi tem of supplementary pay- , ments, a lot of the money was

not being put to the best use, and there should be other methods of helping growers who needed it. This might be rather on the basis of individual cases than blanket payments, over the industry. The committee, said Mr Humphreys, had felt that the Government could well assist with promotion and research through the International Wool Secretariat. This was financed by growers, and was part of their costs. The Wool Commission had no funds now to contribute to the cost of this effort. In the case of the meat’ industry, Mr Humphreys said that the Government gave muqh help through the trade commissioner service, but because of the way that wool was sold it received no help in this way. It was the International Wool Secretariat, financed by growers, which carried out promotion for the industry, and it was felt that any assistance given by the Government in this direction could not be regarded as a subsidy but as helping in the sale of a major commodity for the national benefit.