PARLIAMENT

Grey River Argus, 4 December 1940, Page 6

PARLIAMENT

STATE FRUIT MARKETING Pasi Year’s Success [Per Press Association] WELLINGTON, December 3. In the House this afternoon, the Minister of Marketing, Hon. W. Nash, moved the second reading of the Agricultural Emergency Regulations Confirmation an annual measure, which usually goes through all stages without discussion. Mr W. J. Broadfoot (Nat., Waitomo), discussing the Bill, said the regulations were far-reaching and affected almost every member of the community. It seemed that, in common with other emergency regulations, the consumer had been completely forgotten. He criticised as high the price being charged for lemons when they were retailed to the public, and the lo\y prices paid to the growers; stating that, as a result of low prices in the Bay of Plenty district, a bulldozer was pulling up lemon trees. If that were so, the Minister should make a close investigation. Mr H. S. S. Kyle (Nat., Riccarton): They are pulling up apple trees in Canterbury. Mr Kyle also contended that the Government had broken down in its system of distribution. Never in the history of the country had the consumer to pay so much for fruit. Yet it was being tipped out on rubbish dumps. Moreover, it was a disgrace for the Government to put on the market rotten material that was being sold. M’r A. G. Osborne (Govt., Onehunga), said the Government’s Marketing Division had inaugurated an orderly system, and was repacking every case of apples before it was paid for by the consumer. As the result of this system, retailers and consumers were able to purchase cases of sound fruit. The evidence up to the present was that there had been less wastage and less decay of fruit this year than in any previous year.

Hon. W. Nash, in reply, said, that the prices paid to the growers for lemons last year were better than they had been for the past, five years, and he thought that he was correct in saying they were better than ever before. The Government, he remarked, had lost some money on the marketing of lemons, but not much. As far as the pulling of some trees out in Tauranga was concerned, these trees, Mr Nash pointed l out, had been affected by the citrus canker, and the grower had received com- ' jpensation. The Tauranga growers were well satisfied with the arrangements that had been made. Referring to the marketing of apples and of pears, Mr Nash said that the apples had reached the consumer in New Zealand at a lower price than previously. 'Just because the. price of apples was six pence per pound at present, some people had stated that they had never been so dear before, but, personally, he remembered apples being sold for eight pence per pound. The Government had not wished itself to market apples, said Mr Nash, and it had only consented to do as the request of the apple growers.

The Minister stressed three points in connection with fruit marketing:— (1) Apples and pears were marketed because the growers desired the Government to market them. (2) More fruit had been sold than ever before. (3) The fruit had been sold cheaper than ever before. Referring to the apples exported last season, Mr Nash sadi some 580,000 cases of fruit had been sent away. The surplus on the fruit sent overseas would be a little greater than the loss on the fruit marketed locally. The surplus on fruit sold overseas would be about £200,000, and the loss on that sold on the New Zealand marke? would be very approximately £200,000. It was the Government’s duty to avoid any wastage, said the Minister, and in the fruit marketing there had been less wastage than previously. Moreover, no good fruit had been wasted.

Mr Nash said they should try and find a way to compensate the. fruitgrowers on a low economic basis. “We may pay a little more than we did last year,” he added, “and, if there is a loss, the House must not criticise.”

The Bill was put through the remaining stages and passed.