Govt delay points to limited farm help

Press, 2 November 1985, Page 2

Govt delay points to limited farm help

By

MARTIN FREETH,

in Wellington The Government package of help for fanners has been delayed, indicating that the financial relief which is finally delivered will be limited.

The package was expected to be revealed after Monday’s Cabinet meeting but the three Ministers who are preparing it now say final decisions will not be made before the end of this month. The Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas, his Associate Minister, Mr Caygill, and the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Moyle, failed to hammer out the package at a meeting on Thursday. Their announcement of the delay yesterday drew an angry response from the president of Federated Fanners, Mr Peter Elworthy, who charged the Government with welshing on an understanding to release the package by early next week.

That is when Mr Moyle will leave for a three-week overseas trip. Mr Moyle delayed his departure long enough to attend the Cabinet deliberation on Monday,

but will now have to continue discussions with Messrs Douglas and Caygill from overseas. Mr Elworthy said the reasons given for the delay were “transparent” and not acceptable to farmers. The three Ministers issued a statement blaming the delay on the complexity of the issues and the farreaching nature of proposals in the package. Further detailed study was needed, they said. “We recognise the very real concern in the fanning industry and we are also determined to ensure that any adjustments are of genuine assistance to the industry on a medium-term basis, in line with Government economic policy,” the Ministers said. Their statement indicated that the package would include little provision of cheap loan assistance to ease the immediate cash problems of fanners but would emphasise the benefits to agriculture from consistent policies to achieve structural change throughout the economy. They said it would be no help to make hasty or ill-

considered decisions which seemed to help short term but actually worsened the position of the industry in the longer term.' “Agriculture has already suffered quite enough from short-term policies in the past, to the detriment of its longer-term stability and prosperity,” the Ministers said. Mr Moyle gave little hint of what would be in the package when he opened a new branch of the Rural Bank in Rangiora yesterday. He did, however, say the bank was only one source of finance for the agricultural sector and should be seen at best as an assurance from the Government that one permanent source of funding solely for the industry would exist Mr Moyle predicted this financial year would be one of the most difficult for fanners in recent years, and said the answer for most was to apply, “tight management and budget techniques to their own environment.”

Mr Elworthy said Federated Farmers expected the Government’s package to contain some relief for farmers hit by

high interest rates on their private-sector borrowings. He said the delay in finalising the package after six months of warnings by the federation on the plight of farmers showed the Government did not understand the industry.

Mr Elworthy said it was worrying that Mr Moyle’s departure before the package was complete would mean the Minister of Agriculture would not have the influence over the outcome that he should.

“This further cements farmer feeling that the Minister’s thirteenth place in the Cabinet is a fair reflection of the regard for agriculture held by this Government."

The Minister’s statement said that Mr Moyle would be “closely in touch” with discussions that would continue in the next few weeks between Messrs Douglas and Caygill, and officials. Final decisions should be available “about the end of November,” which is when Mr Moyle will arrive' back in New Zealand.