STATE MILK?

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 October 1946, Page 6

STATE MILK?

QUESTION BY BOROUGH WHAT ARE THE GOVERNMENT'S INTENTIONS ? ONE COUNCILLOR DISSENTS Recent news items in the Evening Star concerning the possible entry by the State into the milk-treatment and distributing business in Greymouth were referred to at a meeting of the Greymouth Borough Council last evening, and the council decided, with only one dissenting voice, to ask the Government to state its intentions in the matter.

“There is a strong impression, from items that have appeared in the newspapers recently, that the Government contemplates establishing a State milk-treating and distributing depot in Greymouth,” isaid the Mayor (Mr. F. A. Kitchingham), in introducing the subject. He added that the position appeared to be very difficult, and cited the case of a Nelson company which was now collecting the milk for the Government and taking it in at the front door of the State treating depot and then going round to the back door to receive the treated milk and distribute it. There would be many difficulties, he said, if the Government took over the treatment of milk. He did not wish to make it a political issue, and balance State against private enterprise, but he thought that if the milk supply and distribution was satisfactory there was no need for anyone to interfere with it. So far. as he knew, since the proprietary firm started distributing the milk in Greymouth there had been no complaints.

Action ny uuurii>>>The Mayor added that it was hard to say what action the council. should take, but he thought it should inqune from the Government concerning its intentions in the matter the treatment of milk in Greymouth. He did not care what system was in vogue so long as it was satisfactory to the PG Cr le 'G. R. Harker seconded the Mayor’s motion that inquiries be made from the Government as to its intentions concerning the Greymouth rniiir Qimnlv. He added that the 1m-

provement in the supply last wintei was marked, and he, like the Mayoi. did not know of any complaints that had been made concerning the present distribution. The company, he believed, had machinery on order ioi the treatment of the milk at the d€ Cr. P. Blanchfield asked if the Mayor knew whether the company wished to sell to the Government. “I do not know,” replied the Mayor, “but I do know that if the Government wishes to take over such a depot, it has the ™ ea 'j s at its disposal to do so. He added that in any such case, where subsidies' were paid in order to keep down the price, the Government had a weapon with which it could make people very compliant.”

Cr. Blanch field intimated that he intended To vote against the motion. He said that the motion had an undercurrent of no-confidence in any Government which took on a milk supply, but the West Coast had been well treated by the present Government, and he considered that if the Government, in the event of its taking over milk treatment and distribution in Greymouth, gave service similar to that given by the Government to the West Coast in othei directions, it would be quite satisfactory. Possible Extension. Cr. W. Herring suggested the possibility of the Government, in the event of its taking over the milk business, becoming a Avholesalei in such items as butter, cheese, bacon, and eggs, and thus affecting the livelihood of men who were in that business in the town and from whom the council received rates. Cr. Stokes: I take it that the resolution is merely asking for information? The Mayor: Yes. The motion was put to the-meet-in£ and carried, with Cr. Blanchfield dissenting. (Cr. J. B. Kent had left the meeting when the question was ra it e< \vas further resolved that the council should make further representations to the Government on its application to be proclaimed a milk authority. The Mayor recalled the history of the council’s application for proclamation as a milk authority, and stated that since the last communication by the council in December 1945,. no advice had been received from the Milk Division of the Marketing Department.