Urge Opua As North’s Butter Export fort

Northern Advocate, 30 September 1944, Page 3

Urge Opua As North’s Butter Export fort

(Spec.)

KAWAKAWA. This Day

Some startling figures were presented by Mr. J R. Morris, of Opua. to the Play of Islands Harbour Board at its meeting here yesterday, in an endeavour to gain the board’s support in pressing lor the use ol' Opua for direct overseas shipment of Northland butter.

“Shipping their butter from Opua will save the Bay of Islands Dairy Company, which has its factory at Moerewa, a full £IOOO a year,” said Mr. Morris, who is a former chairman of the board. He was then a Government nominee on the board but successfully contested the last election as a ratepayers’ representative. Mr. Morris declared that similar benefits would accrue throughout the North by use of Opua for butter export. “There is an unofficial but alrming consensus of opnion that Opua, which has been closed to all overseas trade during the war, may never be opened up a gain." he said. C'cultl Save Fanners £1,000,000

“For more than 20 years, Opua has berthed the biggest overseas cargo vessels that came to New Zealand, and there has never been a single mishap, for all the winds that blow. In that time, shipping only meat, there has been a saving to farmers in Northland cf probably £500,000. That figure will be doubled in the next 25 years, taking into consideration the natural increase and the possibility of butter exporting.

“If there is to be a saving of something like £1,000,000 then I think that the farmers should be much more interested in the port than they have been,” Mr. Morris went on. “I think we should circularise every Farmers Union in the district and enlist their support-” “What good can that do you?” asked the chairman (Mr. J. G. Ritchie), who also a director of the Moerewa freezing works. Mr. Ritchie handed Mr. Morris an estimate of the cost of a grading store to be built at Opua. and Mr. Morris withheld any .motion pending study of these figures.