No Help For NG Copra-
pp. 15-16 · Read in the full issue
Growers Only One Bank in Rabaul
rE continued absence of adequate shipping, plus an acute shortage of sacks probably the. result of the huge demand for the Australian wheat harvest recently placed the planters of New Britain and New Ireland in an embarrassing position.
They were able to cut copra those with sufficient labour and there is a clamorous market for copra, now worth about £4O per ton. But, without sacks or ships, the planters could not get their copra to market. Unless they had finan cial resources, this meant that they could not continue to buy supplies.
Colonel “Blue” Allan, in Sydney in October, pointed out the plight of the planters. The socialisation of New Guinea means that there is only one agency to buy copra the Government controlled Production Control Board. The Board floes not advance against copra on the plantation. Owing to the same policy, there is only one bank in Rabaul, the Commonwealth; and that Bank will not finance the planters in connection with their held-up copra. If there had been a Bank of New South Wales in Rabaul, or if the big firms had been allowed to deal in copra, the planters would have been financed at once The Government would not assist the Bank of New South Wales to become re-estab lished in Rabaul. It owned the only sawmill in the district, and it would not make timber available.
These statements were published: and Mr. T. W. White, MP, got details and asked the Prime Minister a series of questions, in Parliament.
Mr. Chifley’s reply was typical. He said that the Commonwealth Bank had in many instances made advances to New Guinea planters before they had dis posed of their copra to the Production Control Board. He had no knowledge of complaints that the Commonwealth Bank had refused accommodation to planters If
details were supplied of particular cases he would have inquiries made.
The Comonweallh Bank was the only bank now represented in Rabaul, he said.
It was not known why the Bank of New South Wales had not been re-established at Rabaul but the Administrator had re ported the bank made no request for timber for that purpose.
Miss T. Richardson of the Methodist Mission, Solamo, Papua, arrived in Sydney on six months’ leave in October.