Farm leader quits party

Press, 23 March 1985, Page 1

Farm leader quits party

Wellington

A farming leader at the centre of the dollar float leak row has resigned from the National Party. A Federated Farmers official claims the National member of Parliament for Pahiatua, Mr John Falloon, who sparked the row, regretted that it had become more of an issue than originally intended.

The revelations were made yesterday at a press conference attended by Federated Farmers members who were at a meeting on February 12 when the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Moyle, is alleged by the National Party to have

leaked information that the New Zealand dollar would be floated within two months. All the Federated Farmers members at yesterday’s press conference denied that Mr Moyle had leaked information. Federated Farmers’ meat and wool executive senior vice president, Mr David Petersen, was asked by a reporter today if he was a member of the National Party. “I was until a week ago,” he said. He added that it was his personal business why he had resigned. Federated Farmers’ chief executive officer, Mr Rob McLagan, told the press

conference that Mr Falloon had indicated to him that he thought he had made more of the matter than he probably should have. The matter now had gone to the extent where his own integrity was at stake. “I got the impression that while he would have wished for the whole matter to have been dropped, at that stage obviously it would have gone beyond what he had intended.

“He hoped that the thing could be settled as soon as possible. The clear indication to me was that he initially had made more of it than was probably warranted, and that he regretted that.”