How Canberra Is Grabbing £8 Per

Ton From NG Copra-Growers

The way in which the Socialist Government of Australia is with holding from the copra producers of New Guinea and Papua a substantial portion of the amount Britain now is

paying for copra is assuming the

appearance of a public scandal. Here are the facts.

DURING 1948, the Production Control Board (a Government instrumen tality created by Socialist Minister Ward to take all produce from Territories planters at a price fixed by Canberra— a system plainly devised to substitute State control for the operations of the trading firms) paid the planters, for copra, a price that was anything from £lO to £2O per ton under world parity.

About £ 8 per ton of this was placed in a Stabilisation Fund (to provide against a market slump). There is now about £400,000 in that Fund. In theory, it belongs to the planters. But no one has yet been able to get from the Australian Socialist Ministers any statement about the Fund.

During 1948, other British copra-pro ducing countries accepted the offer of the British Ministry of Food, that it would pay, over a period of nine years— subject to a yearly adjustment—a guaran teed price for copra. Australia accepted this agreement at the end of 1948; and, as from January 1 last. Britain is pay ing Australia £4B sterling (the equiva lent of £6O Australian) FOB at port of shipment. As Britain is quite prepared to pick up the copra at New Guinea ports, NG planters naturally assumed that they were to get £6OA per ton, or something pretty close to it. They were wrong.

ON March 3, in Canberra, the Acting Minister for Territories said; “The basis of a contract, designed to stabilise the copra industry of Papua- New Guinea under a long-term agree ment with the United Kingdom, has now been reached.

“The contract will be for a period of nine years. The price for 1949 is to be £4B sterling per ton, FOB, Territory Ports. The price for each subsequent year will not be more than 10 ner cent, higher or lower than the preceding year, and will be negotiated before the end of the preceding year.”

The Acting Minister said that, pre-war, Papua produced 13,600 tons p.a., and New Guinea 76,000. Total production, during and immediately after the war was 10,000 to 12,000 tons. It was now up to about 40,000 tons. It was hoped total production presently would rise to 60,000

tons. Australia’s normal consumption was about 25,000 tons per annum—it was expected that Britain now would take the balance.

As the foregoing still left us in the dark regarding the price to be paid to planters, we applied to the Department for information. We received the follow ing letter, dated March 30, from Mr. J. R.

Halligan, secretary of the Department: “I refer to the statement (of March 3) by the Acting Minister for External Territories regarding the Australia- United Kingdom copra agreement.

“It has now been practicable to con sider other matters regarding the copra industry of the Territory of Papua-New Guinea in the light of the agreement, and set out hereunder are details of the approvals given for the revision of copra prices:— Tentative Prices from 1/1/1949 Hot air/sun Smoke Port Moresby, S a m a r a i, Madang, Rabaul £4B £47 7 6 Kokopo £46 17 6 £46 5 0 Kavieng .. .. £45 17 6 £45 5 0 Final Price for 1947-48 (1) Final price for hot air/sun dried copra has been fixed £ 1 higher than the tentative prices already paid, and Final price for smoke dried copra has been fixed. (a) For period July 1, 1947 to March 31, 1948. £1 higher than the tentative price al ready paid; (b) for period April 1 to June 30, 1948, £4 higher than the tentative price already paid.”

AT first glance, it appeared that Can berra was going to give the Terri tories planters the full benefit of the British agreement—in other words that Mr. Halligan’s quotations were in Sterl ing. But inquiry showed that this was not the case—the quotations obviously were in Australian Currency.

This means that the Australian Gov ernment is going to follow its policy of “grab”, and take the full difference be tween £4B Sterling (paid by the British for the coora FOB at point of shipment) and £4B Australian—namely 25 per cent., or £l2 per ton.

This appeared extraordinary. The planter in Fiji, for example, gets £5O Fijian per ton—equal to over £56 Aus tralian. The same applies in other Terri tories under the control of the British Colonial Office. Why should the Aus tralian planter get only £4B Australian per ton?

It is recognised, of course, that there would have to be deductions from the £4B Sterling per ton, if it were allowed to the planter at point of shipment.

Those deductions would cover various costs shrinkage, damage, handling charges and insurance, between delivery into store and delivery into ship’s hold — and there also would be an export tax of £3 Australian per ton to be taken care of —probably, a total of £4 per ton.

But, even then, the New Guinea planter should get £56 Australian per ton (about the same as Fiji), Accordingly, we sent the following reply-paid telegram to Mr. Halligan, in Canberra: “Reference yours March 30, under stand these prices are Australian currency. What happens to 25 per cent, difference with sterling. Also, what about final smoke dried price be tween July/December, 1948? Fiji, etc., getting nearly full benefit of £4B Sterl ing. Grateful for some explanation as feel bound now to disclose full story of this extraordinary situation tt> Aus tralian press.”

Up to th 2 moment of writing we have had no reply or explanation. If any reply is received after we go to press it will be handed to the Australian newspapers.

IT has been assumed by New Guinea planters that they would receive pay ments from Canberra to take care of the fact that, although the Production Control Board has been making a sub stantial difference in payments for hot air and/or smoke-dried copra, the over seas consumers in fact have been pay ing full price for the lot, making little difference between different classes of copra.

Canberra now ha c recognised this claim (see Mr. Halligan’s letter) but there is as yet no indication of what is being done in this respect to cover the period between July 1, 1948, and January 1, 1949, when the new price, based on the British agreement, came into operation.

Finally there is the mystery of the Stabilisation Fund. During 1946-48, the Production Control Board has deducted from payments due to all planters a sum ranging from £6 to £8 per ton, where with to build up this plan which had some merit.

With the British agreement guarantee, extending over nine vears, there is no further need for a Stabilisation Fund.

Canberra, therefore, was expected to; • Distribute pro rata among the plan ters the Fund which is now believed to be in the vicinity of £400,000. • Discontinue the deduction of so much per ton for the Fund from plan ters’ payments.

So far, Canberra has apparently de clined to do either. Nothing whatever of an official nature has been said in re

lation to the Stabilisation Fund—there still is no assurance that this large sum will be distributed to planters.

This writer, knowing something of the strange way in which the minds of Socialist Ministers work, would not be surprised if an attempt is made by Can berra to grab the whole of this Fund for some such fancy scheme as providing boots for the natives, or a private plane for the Territories Minister.

Summed up the position appears to be this: The producers are going to get the equivalent of £4B Australian at main ports of shipment—a very good return.

But they are entitled to everything they can get.

The difference between £4B per ton Australian and £4B per ton Sterling is being grabbed by the Australian Govern ment. We can account for perhaps £4 of the difference—but where does the other £8 go?

The planters are going to get tjhe difference between what they were paid for smoke-dried, and the overseas price, from July 1, 1947, to June 30, 1948. But there is no indication of when Canberra will distribute the Stabilisation Fund, and the difference between smoke dried and overseas price, from July 1 to December 31, 1948.