MINIMUM PRICE

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 108, 3 November 1937, Page 24

MINIMUM PRICE

FREEDOM FOR

FARMER

MR. COATES'S ADVOCACY

"The Government will be well advised to give the dairy lamer a guaranteed minimum price and let him market his own produce, in his own way," declared Mr. Coates. Mr. Coates said he had noticed that every Government speaker in the debate had carefully left guaranteed prices alone. "I am looking right at the Minister of Finance," said Mr. Coates, amidst laughter, "and if ever I have seen an honourable gentleman looking nervous and uncomfortable, it ■ Mr. Nash: You know the listeners cannot see. „ , ■ ' Mr. Coates said that Mr. Nash was looking nervous because he knew that something was coming. What was the basic guaranteed , price? It was approximately 123s 8d per cwt. The London equivalent of that price was 112s in sterling. That meant that the fanner was receiving 123s 8d m New Zealand while the farmer's butter in London was quoted on October 1 at 152s sterling. . Mr. Nash: Why not make it November 1? , . A _._ Mr. Coates: Yes, I will make it November 1. I thank the hon. gentleman for correcting me. PRICE ON LONDON MARKET. If the 152s on the London market were converted Into New Zealand currency It would be found to work out at 19*8. "The Government commandeered the butter, robbed the farmer of H by Act of Parliament passed by an overwhelming majority, and Is giving the fanner 123s 8d for what It Is receiving 190s for. What about the guaranteed price now?" asked Mr. Coates. Government members said that the dairy farmers were happy and contentedj he continued. Government voices: So they are. Mr. Coates: I happen to be one of those unfortunates who have had their butter commandeered and taken by the Government by Act of Parliament at 123s Bd, while the Government is selling at 190s. Is there an honourable gentleman on the other side who will say that lain wrong? No one will. Mr. Nash: Wait a while. Mr. Coates: He says, "Taihoa." The hon. gentleman cannot side-track me. "PERTINENT QUESTIONS." On October 31, 1936, New Zealand butter was quoted at 90s to 100s per cwt as compared with 152s today, said Mr. Coates. Twelve months ago Danish butter was 128s to 148s per cwt. The retail price of New Zealand butter in England on October 31 this year was Is 5d per lb, and according to the latest cables Danish butter was expected to rise to ls Bd. He was only raising those points for the pur- . pose of asking the Government certain .pertinent questions which he thought he was entitled to ask. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance had been responsible for mothering and coquetting with the guaranteed price. "I am not trying to put the Government in the wrong," said Mr. Coates, amidst ironical cries of "Oh, no," from the Government benches; "I am giving the hon. gentlemen-op-posite the facts, and they cannot deny them." Mr. Coates said he understood that New Zealand held the largest stocks of butter in London of any of the exporting countries. Mr. Nash: We have the, largest share of the market. SURPLUS STOCKS. Mr. Coates said that New. Zealand's surplus in London this year was 2356 tons as against 3666 tons last year, and he wished to make the point that the Government was receiving 66s 4d per cwt more than it was paying the farmer. The farmer was receiving 13Ad per lb f.o.b. and the Government was receiving 18.14 d per lb in London. In other words, the Government was rer celving approximately 4.89 d per lb more than it was paying the farmer for his butter. Taking the surplus at the moment and the carry-over at the end of the season, would the increased price be used as a set-off against the estimated deficit of £650,000? The country was entitled to know. Another point was that the Minister, when asked what was going to happen to the deficit, had said that it was the Government's contribution to the dairy farmers of the Dominion. Mr. Coates said he was sure that everybody would be interested to know what were the Government's actual intentions. He would say that the sooner the Government got rid of its involved system of guaranteed prices and instituted a guaranteed minimum price giving the farmer the benefit of the world market and allowing him to handle his own industry, the better it would be for both the Government and the dairy farmer. Mr. J. Thorn (Government, Thames): What is that but a guaranteed price anyway? "HOT UNDER THE COLLAR." Mr. Coates said that question had been argued over and over again. With the minimum price the farmer was entitled to anything above it. According to reliable reports butter was likely to remain fairly firm. He was bringing the matter prominently before the Government frankly and without rancour, although he felt "hot under the collar," because he knew that the farmers were anxious concerning the jposition. They had to meet rising costs and were entitled to the price the butter brought. The local market for butter was being depressed, said Mr. Coates. For years the farmer had received London parity for local supplies, but that was not the case -today, and he wanted to know what the Government was going to do about it. The Government had no more to dp with the farmers' pro-

duction than the man in the moon, and by all the laws of tradition and fair play the farmer was entitled to have a say in handling his own produce. He t had had no say.