Farmers lack confidence in Govt, Minister told

Press, 20 August 1976, Page 2

Farmers lack confidence in Govt, Minister told

PA Wellington A deputation from the electoral committee of the Wool Board will tell the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) that farmers have a serious lack of confidence in the Government.

A deputation led by the chairman of the committee (Mr T. J. Atchison) called on the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Maclntyre) yesterday and told him of the dissatisfaction. Mr Atchison said later that Mr Maclntyre had told the deputation to tell this to the Prime Minister (Mr Mul-

doon) as it was a grave allegation. The three members of the deputation later tried to get an appointment to meet Mr Muldoon, but Mr Atchison said, the meeting might have to wait until next week. The meeting with the Minister was not mainly about the level of the trigger price

for the wool growers’ incomes stabilisation scheme, or the levies the Government had in recent months imposed on farmers indirectly, said Mr Atchison. “We were more concerned about the lack of producer control in the industry. We have had it for years, but in the last six months control has been taken out of our hands more and more.” This had led to a drop in farmer confidence in the Government during the last six months, he had told the Minister. Mr Maclntyre told the deputation that he would like to see the wool trigger price set by a pricing authority. The committee sent the deputation to see the Minister after several hours of debate at its meeting in Wellington on Wednesday. The deputation told Mr Maclntyre that it was not happy with the means of setting the price. (The Minister makes the decision after consultation with the Wool Board.) The committee favoured having the Wool Board set the price. Mr Maclntyre said later that he told the deputation the board had insisted on the present price-setting system. He and the Government favoured the establishment of a pricing authority to set the trigger price, a system simi» lar to that used by the Meat Board. The Minister said he had told the Wool Board and Federated Farmers that he would be prepared to listen to representations at any time on a wool pricing authority. Later yesterday the electoral committee voted to send the deputation to meet Mr Maclntyre again, this time to express extreme dissatisfaction with the Meat Amendment Bill No. 3.