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1949 NEW ZEALAND

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL COMMITTEE REPORT IN RELATION TO PETITION No. 59 OF 1949, OF THE ALLIANCE FREEZING CO. (SOUTHLAND), LTD., AND 629 OTHERS (Mr. ORMOND WILSON, Chairman)

Laid Upon the Table of the House of Representatives

REPORT

I have the honour to report that the Committee has carefully considered the petition, and is of the opinion that—(l) In the past, conditions in the freezing industry in Southland have not been satisfactory, nor has the labour been sufficient or the general killing facilities adequate for the needs of the primary producers of Southland. (2) This was due to a variety of causes, some of which could have been remedied earlier by the Meat Board had it exercised its potential authority to a greater extent. (3) The Committee is satisfied on the evidence presented to it that conditions in these works have improved in recent years and are not now materially different from conditions in the freezing industry in other parts of New Zealand. (4) As far as actual capacity is concerned, it would appear that, with the present and projected extensions to the existing works, there is no need for any new works to be built in Southland in the immediate future. (5) To build works for which there is no immediately apparent need would not only be wasteful of labour and material, but would also, when such works came into operation, reduce the throughput of, and draw labour from, the existing works to an extent that would render their operations uneconomic. This would inevitably react to the disadvantage both of the workers in the industry and of the farmers of Southland.