Labour taxed with breaking policy

Press, 15 November 1984, Page 2

Labour taxed with breaking policy

Parliamentary reporter The Government was accused yesterday of breaking Labour Party policy in cancelling this year’s land settlement ballots. The Opposition spokesman on agriculture, Mr lan McLean, used pre-election coverage of Labour policy in “The Press” to back up his claim that the Government had broken its word. The pre-election coverage cited Labour Party policy promising assistance for young farmers wanting their own farms. To get young farmers on to land the party promised to increase the buying of available suitable land for subdivision development and settlement, speeding up the development of land bought and offering farm units more quickly by ballot to new farmers. Mr McLean quoted one young farmer as saying that the cancellation was a “slap in. the face” that had taken away his hope. He said that the move;was more dangerous than it seemed at first. “The Labour Government clearly intends to force down farm land prices, regardless of the hardship on those forced to sell,” Mr McLean said. J “Labour’s deliberate policy of forcing down farmland prices could lead to an uncontrollable collapse of farm prices, as happened in the 19305. This is unnecessary and would cause unbelievable hardship, not just on farms but in rural townships and provincial cities. “The impact of Labour’s policies is toughest for the young farmers it promised to help.”