BAN ON POTATOES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22010, 17 January 1935, Page 5

BAN ON POTATOES

EMBARGO PARTLY REMOVED MR. LYONS' PROPOSAL TEN THOUSAND TONS A YEAR In his address at Latrobe, Tasmania, last week, regarding the Australian ban on the importation of New Zealand potatoes, the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Lyons, speaking to a representative meeting of potato-growers and members of the Potato Marketing Board, outlined the Ministry's plans for dealing with the New Zealand request for a partial lifting of the embargo. Mr. Lyons stated that the Commonwealth Government was determined to view the problem from the point of view of the Commonwealth as a whole, and to consider the interests of mainland citrus-growers, who . were being denied the right to sell their produce in New Zealand because of the existence of the Australian embargo against New Zealand's potatoes. Most of those present were residents of Mr. Lyons' electorate of Wilmot. Emphasising that both the citrusgrowers and the potato-growers were primary producers, Mr. Lyons said that as a result of the Commonwealth's imposition of an embargo on New Zealand potatoes, the New Zealand Government imposed an embargo on Australian citrus fruits. The citrus-growers of the mainland were seriously affected. He had seen some of them with little stalls outside their holdings selling the best oranges for Is a bucket and the best mandarins for 6d a bucket. Every bucketful was sold at a loss. The difficulties of any section of primary producers had to be recognised. Plight of Citrus-Growers Mr. Lyons also pointed out that New Zealand trade with Australia would provide greater purchasing power and make the buying of more Ta»manian potatoes possible. "I am putting forward these matters, which concern every section," said Mr. Lyons. "As Prime Minister of this Commonwealth I have to deal with the difficulties of every section of primary producers, and, indeed, every section of the community. When I am not prepared to do that I am willing to stand down and let someone else do it. WTiile I am concerned with the potatogrowerg of my electorate I am concerned with the citrus-growers on the mainland as well. "It is my duty to help the citrusgrowers if I can. Their plight is as bad as it can be. Not only , have they lost the New Zealand market in order that the potato-growers may be helped, but the oranges and mandarins that they would have exported have remained in Australia and smashed the home market. The citrus-growers have to find a market outside or be completely crippled. I suggest that you cannot look at the matter from your own standpoint alone. If this country is to succeed and prosper we must look at such questions from the point o,c view of' the Commonwealth as a whole." Protest Against Modification Mr. Lyons said that the plan was to admit 10j000 tons of New Zealand potatoes for a year, the imports to be regulated so that there would be no glutting of the market. This would allow an outlet to be found in New Zealand for citrus fruits, and the relations between the two countries would be vastly improved.

After Mr. Lyons had concluded & large number of those present spoke strongly against any modification of the embargo, and a resolution protesting against such action was passed unanimously. A feature of the meeting was that although the speakers were unanimously opposed to the proposal outlined by Mr. Lyons, many of them expressed appreciation of his difficulties, and a vote of thanks to him was agreed I to unanimously. C DIVERSE OPINIONS CITRUS AND POTATO GROWERS It is not considered in Australia that the importation of 10,000 tons of New Zealand potatoes would materially disturb marketing, particularly in Victoria, but concern was expressed at a meeting of the Victorian Potato and Onion Growers' Association at the possibility of the introduction of disease. It was stated that the lifting of the New Zealand embargo meant automatically removing the embargo against Tasmania, and sooner or the corky scab disease would spread* throughout Victoria. The secretary of the association, Mr. A. W. Giles, said Mr. Lyons' proposal had caused great consternation among growers, many of whom had decided to restrict their acreage On the other hand, citrus growers welcomed the proposals, as it appeared there was no reason why negotiations for the resumption of the citrus trade should not be satisfactorily concluded.