Meat industry reform seen by Mr Moyle as essential to N.Z.

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 2

Meat industry reform seen by Mr Moyle as essential to N.Z.

Farm editor Reforms must be instituted in the meat industry in a way which was acceptable to everyone in the industry, the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Moyle, told the electoral committee of the Meat Board and Wool Board in Wellington yesterday. However, the industry must change, and sooner rather than later, Mr Moyle said. He specifically did not rule out the possibility of closing freezing works in the interests of “complete efficiency in processing.” “If we have to face the closing of freezing works we must do just that,” he said. . “I know that such closings would have serious consequences for a great number of people and we must ensure that unions and workers are kept fully appraised. “We are aiming for more downstream processing and we must be competitive with offshore processing

plants. So we must accept that there will be changes in the traditional methods of processing.” Mr Moyle addressed the annual meeting of the electoral committee with the Wool Board, whose members were present, and also some members of the Meat Board. In response to a question on his attitude to the electoral committee, Mr Moyle said he did not regard the committee as some sort of master to which the boards had to answer. Producer boards had to have clear lines of communication with the farmers who electea members to the boards and any to the electoral committee system would need to be presented from and decided upon by producers. Mr Moyle said his single most important message to the meeting was that the problems of the meat indus- „ try would not be solved by a piecemeal approach. “It would be a big help if everyone started to think of

‘our industry’ instead of in terms of *we’ and ‘they*,” he said. The Government wanted to see the meat industry standing on its own feet “uncluttered and unfettered by subsidy.” The new Meat Industry Council had a tremendous job to do in arriving at recommendations for reform of the industry. The council needed the fullest co-operation of all sectors in the industry. “The Government places a great deal of importance on the work to be undertaken by the council,” said Mr Moyle. “Few tasks are more important in the economy than the one they are undertaking.”

The council has published terms of reference for an inquiry into the meat industry. Mr Moyle foreshadowed recommendations from that inquiry by the end of the year. They would receive the fullest study. “But it is not the Government’s intention to rubberstamp the recommendations,” he said.