Australia Admits Fiji Bananas.
p. 43 · Read in the full issue
Fiji Removes Tariff Barrier Against Australia.
AN important and interesting pro vision in the new Ottawa agree ment affects trade between Fiji and Australia.
The duty previously maintained by Australia against Fiji bananas has been reduced from 8/- per cental to 2/6 per cental and Australia, in future, will admit, under these conditions 4.100 cases of Fijian bananas each month to Sydney and Melbourne.
This is not a very large quantity of bananas—but it represents a definite relief for the Fijian banana growers, and a definite step towards the revival of Australian-Fijian trade Several years ago, before Australia became protection-mad, large quanti ties of Fijian bananas came into the Australian market and Australia in re turn shipped goods to Fiji of the an nual value of about £750,000. Then Australia settled a number of returned soldiers on banana-growing land and imposed a prohibitive tariff against Fiji bananas. The effect of that was that Fiji ceased to buy goods from Aus tralia; and when the Australian poli tician, in his usual fashion, declined to see the obvious the Fiji Government droye home the lesson in 1931 by im posing a tariff against Australian goods and giving preference to Britain and New Zealand.
That position has now been altered under the Ottawa treaty. Fiji bananas are to be allowed into the Australian market again and the Fijian tariff against Australia is to be removed.
There may be some revival of Aus tralia-Fiji trade. Fiji should not let the matter rest there, however—it must get the quantitative limitation removed.
If Australians cannot grow bananas for their own market under the double protection of 2/6 per cental, plus the cost of transport from the Islands, they should not be encouraged to grow bananas at all.
The admission of 4,100 cases of ban anas to Australia each month from Fiji will not necessitate any special shipping arrangement. The ordinary mail steamers running from America through Suva and Auckland, to Aus tralia can take care of this additional trade. There has been a suggestion that the Burns, Philp steamer Morinda on her way back from the New Heb rides to Australia, via Norfolk Island might call at Fijian ports to pick up bananas, thus giving quicker despatch than the shipment by the mail steamers through Auckland. The objection against this, however, is that the “Mor inda” might be delayed a day or two at Norfolk Island by bad weather which would not be very good for the banana cargo.