DAIRY LEGISLATION

Evening Star, Issue 21903, 14 December 1934, Page 10

DAIRY LEGISLATION

THE EMERGENCY MEASURE HEW ZEALAND'S “STRONG HAND" FOR BARGAINING » (Special to the ‘ Star.’] WELLINGTON, December 13. The- Dominion Dairy Conference, which declined to adopt a motion of opposition to the Agriculture (Emereency Powers) Act, but requested the overnment to appoint as producers’ representatives on the Executive Commission the nominees of the Meat and Dairy Boards respectively, was told by Air Macmillan (Minister •of Agriculture) that the New Zealand producers had to be prepared to meet, the situation'if quotas were forced upon them, and he considered that, in card parlance, they “ had a good hand.” Restriction, declared the Minister, had never been suggested by New Zealand, but he likened the position to that of the oyster which was opened without its consent. But were the producers, he asked, to remain as dumb as the oyster if quotas were imposed. Nobody was opposing the quota except Britain, and no good would be done by standing on the ■ house tops to shout “ we do not want quotas.” When Hie person with whom they were negotiating wanted something different from themselves, they should put themselves in the strongest possible position to give away as little as possible of principles they had enunciated. _ For this reason the Executive Commission of Agriculture, as a co-ordinating authority, was needed to bargain with the Old Country. New, Zealand could go into those negotiations and tell Britain that, compared with , other portions of the Empire, they w,ere giving the Old Country the bestideal of the lot. He and his Ministerial colleagues Lad come to the conclusion that it was advisable when these negotiations took place for them to be able to-say that New Zealand was the one country' which had not dumped its goods into Britain, for there was no disparity between the price of butter in. New Zealand and, that obtained in Britain, whereas all other countries sent in butter under conditions which the Customs authorities would call dumping. “ This conference must take place sooner or later,” added the ■ Minister, “and we are going into it with the best cards in our hands. We -have to move with the times, for people who do not will get left.” Denmark was asking the Old Country for a 10 per cent, restriction: Who was going to give the answer? Surely the Government was right in putting the necessary machinery in motion to be able to answer in the best interests of the dairying industry, and he would give his pledge that the industry would be consulted.. . v ■ ,

Turning to the proposal for control over New Zealand marketing conditions, Mr Macmillan said the consumer had to be considered, particularly in a political sense, for the consumer outvoted the producer. (Laughter.) If there was majority rule in the dominion, then the consumer had a say. He had been told that one dairy company had entered into an agreement to sell butter for twenty-one years at a price a half-penny a lb less than the current wholesale rate', and he wished to declare quite plainly that it was hot' fair as,between man and man, and not in' the interests 'of the industry. It was a clever way of sidestepping what was generally known of the promise made. by himself and the Prime Minister that there would be power given to control- the local market. But here was a concern professing to be co-operative and to act in the interests of the' industry as a whole, putting itself deliberately outside the control of the local market. Therefore, it was necessary to have a clause in the Act which read: “No person shall be 1 liable for damages for any breach of contract in so far as that breach of contract is occasioned by compliance with the regulations made under this section.” Mr Green: Would it be a breach of trust , if. the . Minister names the company ? ‘ * Mr Macmillan declined, to mention names, but subsequently Mr Phillips, a delegate of the New Zealand Cooperative Dairying Company, stated that everyone knew his company made a long contract with a Wellington firm f ov the supply of butter, but not on the terms mentioned by the Minister. The contract had' long been in existence, and a copy had been submitted to the Royal' Commission. ' . A remit urging that any new dairy board should consist of 100 per pent, of producers’ representatives was defeated by an overwhelming mkjority. It was decided to recommend that the ■elected members of the Dairy Board be increased by one, and also that the Government nominees be reduced by one. i, The conference adjourned till tomorrow morning.