Canberra, 6 August 1981
226 Telegram From Francis To Ministry Of Foreign Affairs
Agricultural Council Meeting: Darwin
- Mr Talbot, Under-Secretary, will doubtless be reporting in full on the recent Council meeting.1 Here follows some of the matters which were discussed:
- In a round-robin of talks with all the states in regard to the CER, the responses generally were favourable, Tasmania especially so. Dr Amos, Minister, stated that consultations have proceeded well. He had been to New Zealand and had arranged for Tasmanian farmers to go to New Zealand.
- Both Western Australia and Queensland Ministers expressed the wish that they have the right to deal with New Zealand Dairy Board to supply butter to both states. Both mentioned that the Australian Dairy Board’s efforts in regard to quality left a lot to be desired. Both Ministers indicated that they were in deficit always in butter and would welcome a supply from New Zealand through the Dairy Board.
- Victoria and South Australia Ministers mentioned potatoes and the wine industry respectively. From South Australia and from Mr Nixon, criticism of new wine tariffs.
- Mr Nixon appeared to be in a very amendable frame of mind and stated that a lot of fears in the dairy industry have evaporated but he felt that there should be no forced time table for conclusions of CER without further consultations.
- There appeared to be very little, if any matters concerning the State of Queensland and the Western Australia Minister in particular emphasised that a CER relationship was highly desirable and should be proceeded with forthwith.
- To sum up, therefore with the exception of potatoes and wine, the CER climate had improved most noticeably. It was also interesting that Mr Lindsay Duthie took the opportunity to talk to Mr Talbot on what he considered to be a remarkable opportunity for New Zealand to come into the Parmesan and Camembert cheese markets in Australia. He indicated there was a $6 million export availability to New Zealand with quota of any form being applied and indicated that the New Zealand Dairy Board should move in this area.
[matter omitted]
[ABHS 950/Boxes1221-1226, 40/4/1 Part 38 Archives New Zealand/Te Whare Tohu Tuhituhinga 0 Aotearoa, Head Office, Wellington]
- 1 Apparently a meeting of Commonwealth and State Ministers of Agriculture, sponsored by the Australian Agricultural Council