PRICE OF WHEAT

Wanganui Chronicle, 7 October 1946, Page 6

PRICE OF WHEAT

NEGOTIATIONS WITH AUSTRALIA N.Z. MINISTER ADMITS MAKING WRONG STATEMENT (P.A.) Wellington, Oct. 5. An admission that negotiations in Canberra for the purchase of wheat to meet New Zealand's requirements “did rather break down at an inconvenient moment,” and that he had incorrectly stated to the House that the f.o.b. price to be paid was 9s Id instead of 9s 6d, was made by the Hon. D. G. Sullivan in the House of Representatives this morning when he made an explanation of these negotiations while a vote for the Economic and Stabilisation Commission was being considered.

Mr. Sullivan said that before he left Sydney on December 19, 1945, he wrote to Mr. Scully, placing on record his understanding of the negotiations made, which were 9s 6d per bushel f.o.b. for a quantity of 4,500,000 bushels to be landed by a date in November, 1946, and for the following four years at a price to be negotiated, which would not exceed 5s 9d f.o.b. An alternative proposal was 8s 4Jd for the same quantity, also to be landed in November, 194(1, but at 6s. per bushel for the following four years. Mr. Scully accepted Mr. Sullivan's understanding and the New Zealand Government accepted the first price. It was therefore obvious that, in his address-in-reply speech on July 4, 1946, when he quoted the price as 9s Id he was incorrect. At the time of the negotiations, many figures were quoted and it was on the spur of the moment that he used the figure of 9s Id instead of 9s 6d.

Mr. Sullivan denied that he hf\ deliberately misled the country or had tried to score off the farmers and declared that what he had said was absolutely in good faith. TALK OF “LOADED DICE.” Mr. Sullivan said it was a rational thing to do to arrange a contract for a period of years instead of buying from hand to mouth each year. Mr. Sullivan said he was entitled to resent the speech made in the House by Mr. T. MacDonald. (Opp., Mataura) on September 13, when there was talk of loaded dice and misleading the country.

During a brisk exchange between Mr. Sullivan and Mr. MacDonald, the former declared that the statements made about him were “filth," while Mr. MacDonald termed the Minister, "decadent.” Both terms were withdrawn at the request of the Chairman of Committees, Mr. R. McKeen. Mr. MacDonald said Mr. Sullivan’s was one of the most extraordinary ministerial statements ever inflicted on the House. When the matter was previously debated, said Mr. MacDonald, he was seeking to elicit information, whereas the Minister remained inexplicably silent. There was still an atmoshere of mystery about the matter and the greatest possible light should be shed on it. The Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, said Mr. MacDonald had not sought facts but had sought to condemn and abuse the Minister.

“In my 28 years in the House I have never heard a more frank statement from a Minister,” declared the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser. The probity of Mr. Sulivan and Mr. Scully was beyond question.

When there was a renewal of crosstalk from both sides of the House, Mr. Fraser declared: “I wish those members of the House who are still in the nuriery school of politics would realise that this is a serious matter which should be taken seriously.” Later, when Mr. T. H. McCombs (Govt., Lyttelton) interjected, Mr. Fraser declared that he did not need assistance from anyone on his own side of the House.

ASSUMPTIONS FROM LETTERS. Declaring that he would stake his life on Mr. Sullivan’s honesty, Mr. Fraser said there had been room for misunderstanding in the assumptions drawn from an exchange of letters between Australia and New Zealand concerning the wheat negotiations. Both Ministers were equally sincere. Mr. Sullivan was entitled to infer from the last message he received from Mr. Scully that the matter was practically settled, subject to some further negotiations. But Mr. Scully apparently had decided not to complete the settlement and was therefore telling a literal truth when he said no settlement had Deen reached." Therefore, the worst that could be said was that there was a misunderstanding arising from the assumptions which each Minister believed to be correct. Had the Minister been mistaken on this important matter, his best course would have been to admit it, but Mr. Sullivan was not mistaken in this case.

Discussion of the wheat transaction was interrupted by a lengthy debate upon a point of order. Mr. Speaker’s ruling was sought, and the Chairman of Committees, Mr. McKeen, in giving Mr. Schramm details of what had occurred, said the House in committee had been discussing stabilisation (Mr. Fraser smilingly shook his head), “but,” added Mr. McKeen, “the committee itself has been a little unstable this morning." The committee resumed until 1 p.m.. when Mr. McKeen, before vacating the chair until 2.30 o’clock, warned the members that on resumption the discussion would be strictly confined to standing orders.