SODIUM CHLORATE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4607, 9 October 1934, Page 5

SODIUM CHLORATE

PRICE FIXATION REFUSED. CRITICISM OF MINISTER. An urgent plea to the Minister of Agriculture to take steps to fix the price of sodium chlorate when used for eradicating ragwort fell on deaf ears in the House of Representatives last week. In drawing attention to a vote of £SOOO for subsidising the purchase of sodium chlorate, Mr. A. M. Samuel (I'nd., Thames) asked for an assurr ance that the money would be used to ensure that farmers received the chemical at a reasonable price. Mr. Macmillan said the subsidy would work out at about Id per lb of sodium used in New Zealand. Mr. Samuel: Will you give us the assurance that it will be sold at a ■■ reasonable price? Mr. Macmillan: The user ought to be able to buy it at about 5d a lb. Mr. Samuel: Fourpence a lb too much. Mr. Macmillan, in reply to a further question, said the amount was distributed on lines similar to the fertiliser subsidy. Mr. Samuel: But the price of fertiliser is fixed, and this is not. The Minister: That is because there is no difference of opinion between the importers and the department. He added that so many investigations had been made into the price that there had been a danger that importers would hot import it. Mr. A. S. Richards (Lab., Roskill): That is just unmitigated bluff. The Minister: Well, we can't buy it any cheaper than the merchants.