Steel bail-out will anger — Fed. Farmers

Press, 26 December 1985, Page 5

Steel bail-out will anger — Fed. Farmers

PA Tauranga The president of Bay of Plenty Federated Farmers, Mr lan Noble, says the Government’s bail-out of New Zealand Steel will not be received well by farmers.

“It simply proves correct claims that this Government is not giving primary producers equal treatment during the present re-ar-rangement of the economy,” Mr Noble said.

“Farmers facing Government refusal to aid them during a most difficult time will be understandably sour about help to the steel industry,” said Mr Noble. Mr Noble said he accepted that the taxpayer investment could be justified in the national interest to save investment that had already taken place. ’’But one has to ask what it will mean in the longer

term. Are the rest of us going to face higher power costs so the steel industry can have it cheaply? Or will it mean steel from Glenbrook will be more costly than imported steel? “Why are we pressing on with a steel mill project that seems destined to face continuing financial problems, when the Government is telling everybody else they have to work in a free market?” Mr Noble said the Government had argued strongly against subsidies for farm produce. “If farmers had been given $1 billion, we could have bought the international McDonalds hamburger franchise,” he said.

“That would have solved our meat marketing problems forever. We could have sold lamburgers throughout the world.”