Freezing Works Campaign Took New Lease of Life During Royal Show Week

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26959, 20 December 1948, Page 6

Freezing Works Campaign Took New Lease of Life During Royal Show Week

The campaign for a new freezing works for Southland took a fresh lease of life last week, the occasion being Royal Show week at Invercargill, with the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Cullen, and the chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, Mr G. H. Grigg, among the visitors to the city. A statement opposing a new freezing works licence for Southland was issued by the secretary of the Ocean Beach Freezing Workers’ Union, Mr A. H. Wilson. A joint reply was immediately forthcoming 'from the Southland provincial president of Federated Farmers, Mr W. Baird, and the chairman of the meat and wool section, Mr H. P. Mclntyre. At the showgrounds, a large tent, carrying the banners of Federated Farmers of Southland and of W. and R. Fletcher, Ltd., contained, among a number of interesting exhibits, a model of the proposed new freezing works. Members of Federated Farmers of Southland took the opportunity to meet the Minister. At a meeting of the Southland Progress League, Mr Cullen said that he was not in a position to make a statement about the proposed new works, but added that the question of a licence was receiving serious consideration.

If the Government issues a licence for a new works, this is done on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture. The usual procedure is for the Minister first to receive a recommendation from the Meat Board. In this case, the Meat Board has already recommended to the Minister that no licence be granted. Opposing View “While it might appear to those not closely. acquainted with conditions that the erection of another freezing works in Southland is amatter °f onljr local concern, this is not the case, stated Mr Wilson. In a circular letter to secretaries of affiliated trades councils he that the South and. South Otago, Waitaki, and ant^r^r^ e f a r f a nd ing companies and the New Zeaian Refrigerating Company would be bring l certain”aspects of the matter A *■ Dominion as a whole. Because of the configuration of the South Island and the railway system Sablg&dmactiee gives specific .instances, of how tms system works impractice.^ Adequate Capacity »rp h . agitation for an additional iIaTK SastJ there is no justification for it at Otago Sset k »eS P iar a i W SiaiS r eble to man the works. _ showing tbfcnma^at^Sn’B^ SStaSKT Meteurm Burnside works in the 1947-48 season, Ss Thele showed a y total kill of Hie® ffifon the Jdllffig a bo|rds amount 'unused SnljcapacUy in the three busiest mo , nt . h ® the by^laughSen attach of the five works each month, excluding holidays, are also given. Labour Difficulties The letter emphasised the difficulties experienced by freezing companies m ferine sufficient labour to keep their works fuUTstafed. “A certain-amount S short time is unavoidable on account +>»<* seasonal nature of tne worjv, but it is obvious that the addition of another works would result in smaller killings all , r °und and more short timp” the letter stated. ine , tion of Si additional works would also have repercussions m each district further north. . . . The two main reasons given by membersof Federated Farmers; insupport of a new works had been.—Ul That the present works could not take all the stock offering at present in the province; (2) that much stock was being railed to northern freezing works to these statements, Mr Wilson that the present works could adequately cope with all stock offering. There was no congestion m the Sputhland works in the 1948 season, h 6“ fask fellow-workers not to be mis. led by the statement that over 400,000 head of stock go as far north as Christchurch, to be killed. This statement is definitely incorrect. The figures supplied by Federated Farmers undoubtedly include stock on the Balfour, Waikaka and Tapanui bnes, which has never been killed in Southland and has always been killed at Burnside. I estimate the fat stock leaving Southland, exclusive of the stock from these districts, at 70,000, and a big proportion of these would have gone in any case. «There was less stock than ever railed from Southland in the 1948 season. I ask Federated Farmers to verify their figures, and I challenge them to secure from the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board . the actual figures regarding the position. I say that their figures accurate, and are only being used to ‘ bolster ’ up their already turned down’ application for a new licence. Mr Wilson claimed that should a further licence be granted to Southland it would detrimentally affect the livelihood of all workers engaged in the freezing industry, and stated that many farmers contended that the establishment of a new works under the present “ set-up ” would represent a further encroachment by overseas interests on the ownership of freezing works m New Zealand.

and of the whole livestock business of the South Island was taking large rakes of trucks to Otago and Canterbury and hauling them back empty over the single line and bad grades, ft was contended. Mr Wilson’s references to labour shortages last season were not supported by the Department of Labour and Employment, which stated in its half-yearly survey in August that the unsatisfied demand for both freezing works and dairy factories throughout New Zealand at the peak production months was less than 100 men—loo men for the whole of New Zealand for both industries. Numbers of Stock

“Again Wilson challenges Federated Farmers to obtain from the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board the correct figures of fat stock leaving Southland —in his opinion 70,000, not more than 400,000 as stated by the federation. It has already been pointed out that the farmers’ case for a new works is primarily based on then: knowledge that better facilities and full competition would of itself build up the volume required as new business and so add approximately £1,000,000 to the province’s income.

“It was necessary to point out, as Mr Wilson is obviously not awarC, that when asked to obtain these figures the Meat Board advised that it could not obtain them. Federated Farmers then, with the help of the Railways Department, took out a tally of railway wagons going to freezing works beyond Balclutha from each station in Southland. The result showed that more than 300,000 head of fat stock were railed north of Balclutha each season, and more than 400,000 out of Southland, taking that works into account.

“These figures were examined by board members on March 6, 1946, and Mr J. Begg accepted them as showing the position correctly, while Mr G. H. Grigg, chairman of the board, considered they indicated from 35,000 to 40,000 head going to Pareora and about 200,000 .to Burnside, the remainder spread among other northern works. These facts surely speak for themselves as against Mr Wilson’s unsupported assertion.

“We would like to draw Mr Wilson's attention to the fact that only as late as August, 1947, the New Zealand Meat Producers’ • Board passed a resolution as follows: ‘This board is prepared to support an application for a new licence by applicants approved by the board when materials are available for building and if at that time producers are still of the opinion that it is required.’ ” Minister Noncommittal

Although he was not in a position to make a statement, the question of the establishment of the proposed new freezing works in Southland was receiving serious consideration at present, said the Minister, at a conference convened by the Southland Progress League.

The freezing works subject was introduced by Mr I. R. Wills, who said that the granting of a licence for a new freezing works was absolutely vital to the province. “ The Meat Board had admitted the need for such a works, but for some reason or reasons completely unknown to us in Southland it seems reluctant to back up its own decision,” he said. “Naturally, Southland farmers who have experienced undue delay in the killing of fat stock for as far back as most of us can remember are not going to take the risk of stocking to capacity and having, as has happened so often in the past, to use feed reserved for the winter, to keep fat stock long after it is ready,” said Mr Wills. Quitting of Stock

“In Southland we have a longer winter than further north, and it is vital that fat stocks be quitted within a reasonable time of being ready. I have held fat ewes for nearly three months after booking space for them, and in the end have sent 90 per cent, of them to Pareora, nearly 200 miles away.”

Southland works had never been able to handle his fat ewes within six weeks of their being ready, he said. “ In my honest opinion the labour difficulties' put forward by the Southland work? is an excuse—and this excuse has been annual for as far back as I can ' remember. It is not the real reason at all. Is it possible that the real reason is the monopolistic attitude of the South Island Freezing Works Association? ” Whatever the reason was, Southland producers were fed up with the recurring difficulty each year in getting rid of their stock. A new freezing works was of paramount importance to the province of Southland. It was vital, and it was urgent.

Reply by Farmers

“ The producers are of the opinion that a new works is required as their subscription to the capital has indicated. They have proof that the materials can be obtained,” stated Messrs Baird and Mclntyre in reply. “Mr Wilson has completely missed the point that expansion of production in Southland has in its train brought difficulties to the farmers, the solution of which lies in. the erection of a new freezing works. “The farmers assert —and back their judgment , with £250,000 capital—that Southland’s present and future production demands the killing space competition and up-to-the.-moment facilities that a new works would provide without interfering with the killings of existing works. The farmers are bound to realise more than a townsman the increased facilities which their prospective production will necessitate. “There is no doubt that improved and efficient facilities locally, handling the produce from Southland’s stock through Bluff, will yield a greater net return to farmers and will provide extra work and a greater volume of business to all. . Railway System

“It is certainly not correct, as Mr Wilson implies, that the South Island railway system was devised to facilitate the killing of fat stock in districts other than where it was fattened—presumably he means the killing of Southland stock in Otago and Canterbury. Even a casual look at the railway map of Southland shows the opposite is the case, as all lines run in the direction of Invercargill—branch lines have to bring stock towards the south before it can go north.” The bugbear of the. railway system