Copra Market

Control Of New Guinea

Position Considered by Formal Meeting in Sydney

THE question of whether it was feasible, under present conditions, for the Australian Government to hand over to private interests the marketing of copra produced in the Australian Pacific Ter ritories was considered on August 31 at a private conference held in Sydney.

Mr. Clarrie Archer, of the Production Control Board, presided, and among those who attended were Mr. J. Virtue (Burns Philp & Co., Ltd.), Mr. R. B. Carpenter (W. R. Carpenter and Co., Ltd.), Mr.

Norman Nelson (Nelson and Robertson Ltd.), Mr. Colyer (Colyer Watson Ltd.), Mr. Charles Sullivan (C. Sullivan Ltd.), and Colonel H. T. Allen (representing the New Guinea Planters’ Association).

The meeting was informed that two Committees (on which producers will be represented) are being appointed by Can berra to make recommendations concern ing (a) the Copra Stabilisation Fund; and (b) the price which Australian crushers should be charged for New Guinea copra.

The whole of the time of the meeting was taken up with a discussion of how best to handle the marketing and dis tribution of Territories’ copra, in view of present commitments, and especially in view of the agreement under which the British Ministry of Food is to receive most of the Territories’ production.

It was pointed out that abolition of the Production Control Board was announced in January last, but it had not been possible to give effect to this. More recently, direct representatives of the Papua and New Guinea planters had been added to the Board.

It was finally agreed that any drastic change in the system at this stage was not practicable. The general view was that the present system might be replaced eventually by control by a body jointly representing Government, merchants and planters, having much the same functions and using much the same machinery as the present Board. It was agreed that the present system should continue for a while and that, in the meantime, the system in operation in Fiji should be examined.