Extend Preference

To New Caledonian Produce Value of Reciprocal Trade

Written for The Pacific Islands Monthly by Mr. C. J. Sullivan, Island Agent and General Mer chant, of Sydney.

IT is time that something was done in the way of giving customs preference to New Caledonia by the insertion of a “most favoured na tion” clause in the Australian tariff.

If we are to expand our export trade or even retain our present figures, that is absolutely essential. New Caledonia has been a good customer of Australia, and it is only fair to encourage recip rocal trade.

New Caledonia, although a French Colony, has been described as a “com mercial dependency” of Australia. It is closer to this country than to any other important land, and this prox imity should naturally ensure that a large proportion of New Caledonian im ports particularly foodstuffs should come from Australia.

Until recently, this was so. New Caledonia has been and still is a very good customer to Australia, although our last year’s exports there are down to £264,000, compared with £460,000 ten years ago.

The decline must be largely attrib uted to our foolish tariff policy—fool ish in that it does not discriminate be tween customer and non-customer.

Admitting that the grave state of our national finances demands restriction of imports and, if possible, expansion of our export trade, surely it is abso lute folly to rouse the ire of good cus tomers by practically prohibiting im ports from them, especially when it happens—as in the case of France— that our exports are many times in excess of imports from them.

New Caledonia, as a French Colony, must naturally react to any retaliation on Australia by France. The Caledon ians are friendly—very friendly—dis posed indeed towards Australia. The writer cannot speak too highly of the kindness and courtesy he has received from all classes there, and Australian tourists, who visit the country, always come away charmed with the place and its people; but the New Caledonians are loyal Frenchmen, and must naturally be dissatisfied with the trading condi tions between the two countries.

Black Labour Problem

Whenever the question of preference to Pacific Island produce is raised, the voice of the demagogue sneers “black labour.” Admittedly so—and this wri ter is an ardent believer in the White Australia policy—but seeing that we must import commodities produced in black labour countries, it is to our ad vantage to give preference to our cus tomers.

We buy coffee, for instance, from East Africa, India, West Indies, Abys sinia, Arabia, East Indies, etc., and, with the exception of the East Indies and India we sell them absolutely no thing in return, and even with those countries our trade balance is millions of pounds on the wrong side of the ledger.

Coffee is but one of the many arti cles imported into Australia which could be obtained from New Caledonia and other Pacific Islands, and it can not be denied that a preference ex tended, however small, would be of great assistance to Island planters, and react to our own advantage by increasing the spending power of con sumers of our own products.

Over a period of four years since July 1, 1925, there have been 161 changes in the personnel of the pub lic service of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea. Of this number 32 officers resigned, due to the discovery of gold in the Territory, and 15 owing to ill-health. Unsatisfactory services were responsible for 44 dismissals.

The enumerated and estimated native peculation of the Territory of New Guinea on June 30, 1929, was 339,841 an increase of 16,557 over the number for the preceding year.