The Press TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1974. Mr Moyle and the farmers

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33516, 23 April 1974, Page 14

The Press TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1974. Mr Moyle and the farmers

Mr Moyle, while an Opposition member of Parliament and in the early days of his appointment as Minister of Agriculture, showed himself aware of the needs and problems of farmers. His week-end attack on farmers for “going into mourning and grabbing the “ headlines with their prophecies of doom and “disaster’’ is strangely at variance with his earlier stance. It suggests that he has been stung by some of the fanners’ criticisms of the nine per cent

General Wage Order — criticisms which Mr Moyle, of all Cabinet Ministers, should know are well founded.

The general wage order will, over night, improve the economic situation of wage and salary earners m relation to that of all self-employed people, including farmers. None of the responsible farmers’ spokesmen has emphasised that aspect, but they have each pointed to the direct effects of the general wage order on the profitability of farming — most of them in terms which were surprisingly moderate. The wage increases to be paid to the dwindling number of men employed as farm workers are perhaps the smallest of the additional cost burdens to be borne by the fanning industry after June 30; the cost of agricultural contracting and of virtually every other service and commodity bought by farmers will, sooner or later, be increased as a result of the wage order.

In very few instances will farmers be able to pass on their extra costs to their customers; unlike most New Zealand manufacturers and service industries, fanners must accept the prices fixed by market forces abroad for nearly all their produce. Prices for several important New Zealand exports—notably beef and wool — are now lower than they were 12 months ago. What other section of the community can more justifiably complain of being expected to shoulder cost increases and lower returns for its output? If Mr Moyle wishes to regain the confidence of the fanning community he should be offering to assist them in making representations to his colleague, the Minister of Finance, instead of sneering at them for their “current pessimism . . . “ aimed at softening up the Government for favour- " able consideration in the Budget