Hold Islands’ Trade

Australian Firms Fight to Hold Islands’ Trade Hampered by Restrictions and Traded Apathy

“ A USTRALIA is fighting grimly to hold her Pacific Islands trade,” said Mr.

W. M. Reid, well-known Sydney exporter, on his return from a visit to New Guinea and the Solomons by the Malaita on May 8, “and I cannot condemn too strongly the red-tape restrictions placed upon firms trying to build and strengthen Islands trade for the Commonwealth.

“I obtained a contract from the N.G.

Administration for the supply of Aus tralian tinned meat. Though a lower price was offered by interests selling meat from other countries, the Administration gave the contract to Australia because of loyalty to the Government at Canberra.

“The price quoted was for unlabelled tins, but the suppliers were later notified by a Government official in Melbourne that export would not be allowed unless the tins were labelled. This meant an additional Bd. a case, and, without that, Australian meat was already l/6d. higher than that of other countries.

“It is hard to understand this red-tape attitude of some Australian officials—the meat will not be offered for sale, but will be issued by the Administration to the natives, who know that the tins contain meat. Anyhow, they can neither read nor write, so the label means little to them.

“With the exception of New Guinea, the Pacific Islands are very extensively sup plied with meat from foreign countries,” continued Mr. Reid. “Those interests ob tained this trade by undercutting prices —and Islands trader's display a marked in difference towards Australian goods when the question of price is a consideration.

They are not interested in the country of origin, but mainly in the margin of profit.”

Chance For Australian Flour

Mr. Reid urged that the Federal Govern ment, in conjunction with the New Guinea Administration, should attempt to foster the export of Australian flour, which could form part of the rations issued to native labourers. At present they are given rice grown in Java and Saigon.

The ordinances governing rations make provision for the issue of flour (or dinary and wholemeal) in lieu of rice,” he stated, “and where flour as a ration is now optional, it could be made compul sory. The natives are not averse to flour; rn fact, most white housekeepers have their supply under lock and key to pre vent the ‘boys’ from stealing it to make dampers. in French Oceania, imports some 260 tons of Australian flour a month.

Rabaul takes only 20 tons. The native population in the New Guinea centre is much larger than Tahiti’s (and the white population is almost the same) so it can e readily seen that there is a big open mg for Australian flour, if once it is in troduced with the native ration issue. The cost would be about the same as rice, but the nutriment would be greater, and the diffprJnt 10nS C ° U - ld be cooke( f in a dozen different ways—it is only a question of shouMbe used. a " d explainin S h ° w « PoL^i° a l d - hat at . present Carpenters’

Pondo Estate is practically the only plan flou? n with N t e i^- GUlr l- a Siving its iabourers made Tnto brad.™ 1 ' 0 " 8 ’ and U is usual *