Letters for Friday October 15, 2021

Dear Editor,

Kia orana tatou katoatoa

I have decided to respond to comments on social media concerning a recent article in the Cook Islands News under the headline “Cook may consider ‘no jab, no job’ policy: TMO”. Firstly, I am not responsible for the headline which appears to have alarmed some of you; it’s the newspaper’s prerogative to choose the headline.

It is correct that in my comments to CI News I said TMO (Te Marae Ora) could look at the position New Zealand is taking regarding requiring education and health staff to be fully vaccinated in order to carry out their work. The article then went on to explain exactly what New Zealand has decided to do.

Some of you have completely misinterpreted that explanation as my words – they weren’t – but merely an explanation of what will be made compulsory in New Zealand.

There will need to be a lot of discussion before any decisions on that matter might be made by our government.

As an aside. Comments on this appear to be concentrated around people worried about losing their jobs. Isn’t that looking at this matter the wrong way round? Shouldn’t we be worried about our most vulnerable people, the sick and our children? And that worry can be minimised by people simply getting the vaccination that is offered to them free of charge, thus protecting themselves, their families our sick people and our children.

Isn’t that what really matters?

Bob Williams

Secretary of Health

The hypocrisy of

‘Go Local’ initiative

With much questionable fanfare it is announced that World Food Day is here again.

This is a day when the CIP Government of Mark Brown celebrates those primary production ventures it has destroyed and identifies what other agriculture pursuits that may have escaped its attention that it can similarly ruin.

Meanwhile the realities of Covid have revealed our economy’s vulnerability, dependency on tourism and the need to diversify.

In a partial, but inadequate, response Government has funded special Agritech grants to some wishing to try egg production and while commendable when viewed in isolation it does leave one wondering at the hypocrisy of it.

Viewed on the one hand Government would appear to be engaged in a laudable objective of promoting food security so we can live without imports (cynically called Go Local).

On the other, Government succumbs to vested interests which succeeded in the removal of price controls on most basic grocery lines, including eggs. Then to complete the unfettered market domination they had mapped out for themselves, with no oversight of prices and commercial practices, persuaded  agents in Government to remove the protective levy where eggs were concerned on the grounds that consumers needed a choice; that prices were too high; that the few local suppliers were making excessive profits.

Government willingly obliged and did another of their bidding and removed the protective levy on pork as well which, in the USA, whose pork industry we now prefer to support rather than our own, received US taxpayers’ subsidies to the tune of US$1.2 billion in 2020. Don’t you love the irony of that? Remove a local protection to receive a substitute protected product from another country and destroy a flourishing local pork industry in the process.

That was in 2014. Since then consumers do indeed have a choice. NZ, Fiji and Samoa eggs grace the shelves some often past their sellby/useby dates, and on special, which Health and Bio-Security, notwithstanding the promises, do nothing about. Some local eggs feature too but the imports dominate leaving the impression that without them local production could not fill the vacuum, which it used to, and without Government’s destructive agenda, could do so again. 

Despite all the claims, and best endeavours to close us, Scotts Farm is still in business and while the attacks upon it have eroded its economies of scale and any remaining incentive to stay in the business, its prices and choices are still better than the imports (specialing aside). Check out the sizes and range at our Avatiu shop.

It is ironical though isn’t it that World Food Day is also a celebration of the birth of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) yet it was the FAO representative who considered the removal of the protective levy on pork and eggs to be ill-advised not to mention that it was the same organisation which funded the now derelict and defunct abattoir up the Avana valley which used to be a hive of activity.

One independent voice in the CIP ranks was the late Minister of Agriculture, Nandi Glassie who on more than one occasion attempted to get the Mr Brown to see reason.

I guess what was motivating such a departure from national goals; issues of local production; competition policy; price control will just all have to await the general election to get the attention they deserve but I would seriously recommend those challenging the incumbents to start giving these some thought.

John M Scott

Scotts Farm