Timaru by- election Drought issue

Press, 27 May 1985, Page 2

Timaru by- election Drought issue

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The Timaru by-election comes at a time of great political turmoil, according to National’s agriculture spokesman, Mr lan McLean (Tarawera). He said it was bringing out the best and worst in party leaders. He cited the leader of the New Zealand Party, Mr Bob Jones, as the worst for “mesmerising the news media while spitting political venom at all who bruise his ego.” But the big issue at the Timaru by-election was the drought in the area, as a result of which dozens of fanners were likely to lose their farms. This was not because they were poor farmers, Mr McLean said, and not even

really because of the drought itself, but because the rise in interest rates made existing commitments so great that they could not afford to borrow to deal with the drought. Timaru voters would now be asking the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Moyle, whether they could trust him and his Government any more. People had trusted Mr Moyle when he had said that no competent farmer would be driven off the land because of Labour’s economic policies. But now fanners in the drought areas round Timaru, and in the Timaru electorate, had a chance to show in the byelection what they thought of Labour’s broken promises.