£28,000,000 FROM BRITAIN

Southland Times, Issue 25673, 16 May 1945, Page 7

£28,000,000 FROM BRITAIN

DAIRY ASSOCIATION’S COMMENT ' Reference to the lump sum payments, totalling £28,000,000 sterling, by Britain to New Zealand is made in the annual report of the South Island Dairy Association. “Since the Prime Minister made the statement that these payments were being made by Britain as compensation for the disparity in prices between imports from the United Kingdom and exports to that country, that they would be ‘retained for the nation,’ the minds of the public have been considerably perturbed over the matter,” says the report. “It could be inferred from the statement that no portion of these payments would be passed on to the primary producers, but that the whole amount was to be utilized for _ other purposes, which seemed incredible. “A joint committee representing the Meat and Dairy Boards was set up to investigate the position. This committee reported recently that after full inquiry it was satisfied that the payments in question are not in respect of produce supplied to Britain, that they are being made partly for the purpose of strengthening New Zealand sterling funds and partly towards the costs of stabilization in New Zealand. In other words the huge sum of £28,000,000 sterling (£35,000,000 N.Z.) is an absolute gift, or an act of charity by a mother to one of her family who has got into serious trouble; there is no other conclusion that can be arrived at.

“When one thinks of the extreme sacrifices which the people of Britain have made in the last five years one cannot help feeling the most profound respect and admiration for a Government which can be so magnanimous. At the same time the thought that the payments were probably solicited by the New' Zealand Government must fill every self-respecting person in the country with loathing and contempt. At the present time hundreds of our soldiers and airmen, released from captivity, are enjoying the hospitality of the British people. Any gifts that are offering should be from New Zealand to Britain, and not in the opposite direction. The following remit will be submitted .by the executive at the annual conference at Dunedin on June 7:— “This 'conference of dairy producers in the South Island of New Zealand desires most humbly to express to the British Government its most profound admiration for the wonderful generosity it has displayed in making to the Government of this Dominion the magnificent gift of £28,000,000 sterling, under the agreement entered into between the two Governments last year. At the same time we wish most definitely to disassociate ourselves from any action which may have been taken by the New Zealand Government to solicit such a gift, and to state that the thought that such a request was possibly made is utterly repugnant to us.”