DAIRYING INDUSTRY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18526, 12 October 1934, Page 6

DAIRYING INDUSTRY

POSSIBLE LEGISLATION TAX ON LOCAL SALES UNPOPULAR PROPOSAL (Parliamentary Boportcr.) WELLINGTON, this day. Representatives in Parliament of the dairying industry are unanimous in their opinion that a sales tax of 2d per lb on butter sold in New Zen,land for the purpose of subsidising the industry would be of little use. It has hcCn rumored that the Dairy Commission will make a recommendation to this effect, hut if it does so, the proposal will get little support. It was pointed out that the local consumption of butter was approximately 16 per cent, of the total production. Thus a tax of 2d per lb would mean a subsidy of less than id per lb over the whole. This is regarded as being absolutely insufficient. There is no doubt that an effort will be made to stabilise the price of butter within the Dominion, but so far no satisfactory method of doing this lias been discovered. The Government has decided to make the scope of the proposed legislation as wide as possible. This will be put before a caucus-of the Coalition next week. The main object in doing this is to get suggestions for some workable scheme, hut at the. moment it seems that the Ministers are puzzled as to the best method. Whatever the outcome of the caucus, the Government Intends that the legislation shall he before the public and the industry long enough to enable a thorough survey to be made, and to enable all those interested to make suggestions.