Papua Copra
pp. 21-22 · Read in the full issue
New Guinea And
How Australian Government is "Taking Control"
WAYS and means of giving relief to coconut planters in the Australian Pacific territories were discussed at a meeting in Sydney on August 26 at tended by the Minister in Charge of Ex ternal Territories (Mr. Nock), the sec retary of the Islands branch of the Prime Minister’s Department, Mr. J. R.
Halligan, and representatives of the copra industry, including Messrs. Burns, Philp and Co., Ltd., Messrs. W. R. Carpenter and Co., Ltd., and Messrs. Colyer Watson, Ltd.
The discussions were lengthy and involved and the views expressed were by no means unanimous.
The Minister outlined the general character of the Commonwealth Governments plan. Simply stated, it was that the Government would grant sustenance relief to needy planters, that such monles would be provided by way of an advance on which the Government would
charge 4 per cent.; that all planters thus assisted were to send their copra to a Government pool; and that the Com monwealth Government would in due course dispose of this copra—presumably to Britain—at the best possible price, the money received to be credited in proper proportion to the various planters.
It was indicated that the Government proposed to advance to planters susten ance money at the rate of £4/10/- per month for single men; £6/10/- per month for married men; with additional money for the payment of labour, etc., where the circumstances seemed to warrant it. It was proposed to set up a board consist ing of representatives of the Govern ment, the planters, the big firms, ana other interests, to adjudicate upon appli cations for relief and, presumably, to control the pool and sell the copra.
It was stated by the Minister that ad vices from London indicated that the British Government at that moment had on hand a sufficient supply of vegetable
oil seeds to meet all requirements of 61 weeks—therefore it was not expected that Britain would be a buyer for some little time yet. (Yet, on the same day, it was reported in the newspapers that the butter and margarine ration in Britain was being reduced to 4 oz. per week, from September 2!—Ed., Those present, representing the firms, subjected the plan to a good deal of criticism. It was pointed out that the Government apparently was proposing to create expensive machinery for the oper ation of the plan and the pool; whereas if the Government would agree to authorise and subsidise a copra pool, to be formed and operated by the big firms and the independent planters, the sys tem could be worked much more economi cally and probably much more efficiently.
The Government plan, apparently, did not take any account of the fact that the great majority of planters in the Pacific Territories were debtors of the big firms, and were being financed by them now, and had been financed by them for many months past. The representatives of the big firms declared that they were pre pared to co-operate with the Common wealth Govt, in every possible and practic able way to keep the copra industry go ing, but they urged very strongly that the Government in formulating its plan should come a little nearer to the prac ticalities of the situation.
It was anounced by the Minister on August 30 that the Commonwealth Gov ernment was going ahead with its plans for giving relief to copra planters, and selling the copra through a pool. The Minister said the Government virtually was taking control of the copra industry in Papua and New Guinea.