AGREEMENT NOT TO BE RELEASED

Southland Times, Issue 23888, 5 August 1939, Page 8

AGREEMENT NOT TO BE RELEASED

DEPARTMENT AND FREEZING ~ COMPANIES

A statement that the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. W. Lee Martin) was not prepared to release the agreement reached between his department and the freezing companies in Southland was made at the meeting of the Southland provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union yesterday by the president (Mr E. A. Cameron).

A letter from the Minister stated that he would be glad to discuss the agreement with the provincial president when he visited Wellington. “I approached the Minister on this agreement,” said the president. “I explained that the last provincial conference had passed a resolution requesting that a copy of the agreement should be made available to the provincial secretary.” The Minister said that his department reached hundreds of agreements with companies and individuals and it would be against the public interest for the agreements to be published. He had said that no good purpose could be served by releasing the agreement which merely covered one year. “I asked him if he could give me an assurance that his department was watching the interests of the farmers in Southland and he said he could assure me that they were doing everything possible to see that the best interests of the producers were served,” concluded Mr Cameron.