DAIRY CONFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 182, 30 April 1936, Page 12

DAIRY CONFERENCE

Marketing Legislation Discussed ADDRESSES BY MINISTERS Details of the Primary Products Marketing Bill introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday were explained to a Dominion conference Of ward delegates of the dairy industry in Wellington yesterday by the Minister of Finance, Hon. W. Nash. Mr. Nash, who was accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. W. Lee Martin, will meet the delegates again this morning, when he will answer questions that they may wish to ask other than respecting the actual price it is proposed to pay for dairy produce. After Mr. Nash’s explanation of the Bill and a short address by Mr. Martin both Ministers left the conference, which then went into committee. This morning’s discussion between the delegates and the Minister will be open to the Press. Mr. Nash first thanked the Dairy Board for the work it had done in putting into words the procedure to be followed in establishing machinery for guaranteeing prices for dairy products. No one could have co-operated with the Government more than the board had done. Mr. C. P. Agar, a member of the board, had gone to unprecedented trouble to see that he (the Minister) obtained a complete insight into the activities of the board and its staff. There was no suggestion that the words written into the BUI were not to be altered, but the objective could not be altered. He did not think the Government would shift from the principle set out in the Bill, but if the conference could show that alterations were required or an additional section was necessary to make the working of the procedure simpler and easier then the legislation could be amended accordingly when the measure was • in the committee stage in the House of Representatives. Mr. Nash said he would not have had the slightest qualms about telling the delegates what the price was to be if that were in the interests of the industry. The desire of the Government was to place all its cards on the table, unless there were potential agencies at work that might put snags in the way and cause the Government’s work to break down and not be effective. That was the reason he was not discussing the price. The Government was going to try and market dairy produce in a way that would give to the dairy-farmer a return he had not had for a long time. It would make a profound difference on world economy as well as on New Zealand economy if the Government achieved what it was setting out to achieve. When Mr. Martin and he had discussed with members of the board their own position Mr. Agar had suggested that the elected members should continue as members of the new board and that one Government nominee might be chosen from the three Government appointees on the present board. At the same time Mr. Agar pointed out that he himself did not want to be appointed. The Minister added that he considered that a very sporting attitude on the part of Mr. Agar. Mr. Martin said the Government had endeavoured to provide something that would give to the working farmer and the industry a stability it had not enjoyed for many years. The Government believed its proposals would ac complish that. It was a tremendous experiment in one way, but the Government believed it would be accomplished and that it would be the forerunner of something that would be adopted by many other countries. He wanted the co-operation of all in the industry, and with that the industry could be placed on a stable basis