Bill introduced to create N.Z. phosphate commission

Press, 8 August 1981, Page 12

Bill introduced to create N.Z. phosphate commission

Parliamentary reporter

The management of phosphate stocks in New Zealand would be vested in a phosphate commission of New Zealand under a bill introduced into Parliament on Thursday. The bill would establish the commission as a result of the winding up of the British Phosphate Commission, and the Christmas Island Phosphate Commission.

The B.P.C. was responsible for phosphate mining on Nauru Island and Ocean (Banaba) Island and the C.I.P. was responsible for phosphate mining on Christmas Island. Since Nauruan independence, the Nauru

P hosphate Corporation has assumed responsibility for the control of the Nauru deposit and the Ocean Island deposit was exhausted last year.

The Christmas Island venture will be managed by an Australian Governmentowned company for its limited remaining life.

Under the bill the new commission would have three members appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, one of whom would be nominated by the New Zealand Phosphate Company, Ltd, which was formed by all the companies in New Zealand engaged in the manufacture of phosphate fertiliser. It is an express provision of the bill that the commission should comply with the policy of the Government.

The functions of the commission would be to acquire and distribute, through agents or otherwise, supplies of phosphate, to manage and hold such stocks of phosphate as the commission would determine in consultation with the Government and the company, and to “perform such functions' and duties as are necessary” to supply phosphate in New Zealand. The commission would have extensive powers to manage its own affairs, subject to complying with Government policy, and these powers would enable it to function without Government financial assistance, according to the Minister of Agriculture (Mr Maclntyre). The stocks of phosphate which will become the property of the Crown as a result of the winding up of the C.I.P.C. would be transferred to the new commission on the passage of the bill to form the commission's initial capital and to allow it to finance other purchases of phosphate. The stocks now stand at 500,000 tonnes, or about a quarter of New Zealand's annual requirement. Mr Maclntyre said that the Government was concerned lest the price of phosphate fertilisers in New Zealand rose markedly as a result of the winding up of the two existing commissions.

To safeguard against this it was' essential that the phosphate stockpile which had been built up was placed in the hands of an organisa-

tion such as the new commission.

The Labour Party's spokesman on agriculture, Sir Basil Arthur, asked why a new commission was necessary when the New Zealand Phosphate Company represented all New Zealand fertiliser manufacturers. If such a commission was necessary, and not merely another quango, why was there no explicit provision for one of the commissioners to be nominated by phosphate users such as Federated Farmers? Mr Maclntyre replied that it was possible under the bill for a farmer representative to be appointed to the commission.

He said that the existing stockpile was the property of the Crown and it was intended to vest it in the new commission as still being the property of the Crown. If the stockpile was given to the phosphate company, without a commission having been set up, it would immediately become liable for tax which • would needlessly lead to an increase in the price of fertiliser. All that was happening was that a new commission would be substituted for an old one. The commission would be responsible for meeting the cost of phosphate imports and, as the phosphate was taken by the company from the stockpile, the charges would be passed on. The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Rowling) said that the bill gave no guarantee that the commission would have any effect on restraining the “savage” price increases for fertiliser which farmers had suffered.

He queried the provisions in the bill, which in one clause would empower the commission to borrow money with the consent of the Minister of Finance, in another clause would give the commission the power to lend money to. fertiliser manufacturers and the joint company, and in another clause would oblige the commission to comply with Government policy. He said that this might be providing a mechanism for the Government to “bail out” fertiliser manufacturers along the lines of money advanced to the Kariori pulp mill.