ORANGES AND THEIR PRICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 September 1934, Page 6

ORANGES AND THEIR PRICE.

The discussions in Southland regarding the supply and price of Australian oranges should at least awaken Parliament to a sense of its duty. It is many months since scientists made it clear that so far as the spread of plant disease is concerned there is no reason why, under due precautions, New Zealand potatoes should not be exported to Australia and Australian oranges to the Dominion. It is true that the embargo on oranges has been lifted to some extent, but the fact remains that a fruit which ought to be plentiful and . cheap is scarce and expensive. The retailers of Invercargill maintain with much vehemence that the charges complained of represent only a fair margin of profit to them, and they have submitted figures in support of their contention. Meanwhile the public must pay a price for fruit which, as the newly appointed trade commissioner for Australia stated in Wellington, is "staggering” as compared with that obtained by growers in New South Wales. Study of the subject makes it evident that trade agreements between countries like New Zealand and Australia, with almost the same commodities to export and each determined to preserve as far as possible the domestic market for the local producer, are not easy s to frame. But restrictions upon the importations of commodities of which one country has a surplus and the other a deficiency indicate some lack of statesmanship or goodwill. In the meantime the public must pay dearly for a fruit that is almost essential to health, and this without benefiting any industry in the Dominion. It is true that New Zealand has tropical dependencies which might be capable of supplying all the oranges required. The difficulty of transport, in view of the lack of twoway freights, seems, however, to put the Cook Islands out of court as the sole supplier of oranges to the Dominion, while locally-grown fruit has not yet reached a standard of quality or quantity that merits the restriction of supplies from Australia. It is nearly time more commonsense arrangements were allowed to apply, especially at a time when domestic budgets have to be framed with such economy.