LOSS OF £20,000

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 89, 12 October 1938, Page 22

LOSS OF £20,000

DUMPED POTATOES

CANDIDATE'S CHARGE

The "futile" expedients adopted by the Government to implement its policy of State marketing of primary produce were hotly attacked by Mr. A. S. Falconer, National candidate for Dunedin North, in an election address last night, states a correspondent. In support of his criticism he quoted the case of potatoes purchased by the Government for the South American market, and stated that these were finally dumped because there was no demand for them.

"I challenge the Government," Mr. Falconer said, "to deny that it recently purchased thousands of tons of potatoes at £3 a ton and shipped them to South America at the people's expense, only to find that in the absence of any market for them they had to be dumped. This is what can be expected with the State marketing of produce, and I can tell you that this little piece of stupidity cost the taxpayers of New Zealand over £20,000. Growers were paid £3 a ton and then the produce had to be thrown away.

"If such a costly blunder can be made in such a relatively unimportant commodity as potatoes, who knows what is possible in the marketing of dairy produce, which runs into millions of pounds worth of money every year? It cannot be described otherwise than as futile marketing."