DENIAL OF DUMPING

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19759, 13 October 1938, Page 5

DENIAL OF DUMPING

POTATOES FOR EXPORT SOUTH AMERICAN MARKET EXPLANATION BY.MR. NASH (Per Press Association.) PALMERSTON N.. this day. In an interview last night, the Minister of Finance and Minister of Marketing, the Hon. W. Nash, made further reference to a report of the statement by Mr. A. S. Falconer, the National Party candidate for Dunedin North, during the course of a political address alleging that potatoes purchased by the Government for export to South America had been dumped. "Nothing could be further from the truth," stated Mr. Nash, "and the speaker must either be seriously misinformed or else, for political purposes, he deliberately made a false statement in order to discredit the assistance rendered by the Government to the potato growers who, due to heavy crops and the weak local market, were in dire straits."

Apart from the fact that all potatoes landed in South America were finding a readv market, the Government had expressed itself more than once in no uncertain terms that it would not dump foodstuffs which were suitable for human consumption, continued Mr. Nash. Over 3000 tons To show the falsity of such a statement a further shipment of over 3000 tens went forward from New Zealand only lasi week, which surely must have been known to anyone who had the slightest interest in the problems of the potato growers. Therefore he would have to give a categorical denial to the statement made by the National candidate. "I wonder," said Mr. Nash, "what the potato growers are thinking when they hear their industry described by u National candidate as relatively unimportant. It certainly should be enlightening for them to learn the attitude of the National Party toward the smaller sections of primary producers. The present Government considers every primary producer as a subject for the fullest consideration and assistance when the market or other conditions are such that their livelihood is in danger.

What he described as the "futile" expedients adopted by the Government to implement its policy of State marketing of primary produce were hotly attacked by Mr. A. S. Falconer, National candidate for Dunedin North, in a recent election address. In support of his criticism he quoted the case of potatoes purchased by the Government for the South American market, and stated that these were finally dumped because there was no demand for them. "I challenge the Government," . Mr. Falconer said, "to deny that it recently purchased thousands of tons of potatoes at £3 a ton and shipped them to South America at the people's expense, only to find that in the absence of any market for them they had to be dumped. This is what can be expected with the State marketing of produce, and I can tell you that this little piece of stupidity cost the taxpayers of New Zealand over £20,000. Growers were paid £3 a ton and then the produce had to be thrown away.

"If such a costly blunder can be made in such a relatively unimportant commodity -as potatoes, who knows what is possible in the marketing of dairy produce, which runs into millions of pounds worth of money every year? It cannot be described otherwise than as futile marketing."