Where the New Guinea Copra

Producer's Money Goes

11HE audited accounts of the Australian New Guinea Production Control Board for the years ended July 30, 1948, and 1949, are very interesting.

Tnis is the Governmental body created ' by Socialist Minister, E. J. Ward, to keep the Big Firms from “further exploita tion of the Australian Pacific Territories.”

As originally planned, the Board was to take over all the produce of the Terri tories, and sell to the Territories producers all their requirements. The mer ' chandising end of the plan soon faded out; and now these newly-published figures show what has happened on tne

production side.

The Board started operations as soon as the Japs were gone-several years ago, now. Capital required for purposes of operation was provided by the Common wealtn Treasury, tnrough an “advance” of £4t>o,ooo. We have not seen any ac counts covering the early years; but on June 30, 1948, tne Board nad accumulated a general profit of £137,233 (£36,000 of it made in tnat year) and a special profit (accumulated from the early operation of native trade stores and earmarked for ■ native welfare”) of £56,722. Tne Board ceased to operate trade stores some time ago.

By the end of June, 1949, the accumu lated general profit had grown to £255,501 —wnicn meant that tne Board, in tnac year (1949) made a profit of over £lOO,OOO.

The following figures, extracted from the balance-sneets, show tne scope and character of operations:—

WITH those figures, anyone with a liking for accountancy can make some observations.

If the Board had been wound un on June 30, 1949 —15 months ago—it would have had approximately the following sums wherewith to repay Australia the £450,000 advanced:—

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1948 1949 £ £ Owing to Native Welfare Account 56,722 56,722 Reserved for insurance . 26,607 36,967 Accumulated profits— Copra 33,440 150,260 Rubber 6,358 5,529 Merchandise, etc. . 97,435 99,712

Assets

1948 1949 £ £ Held in cash 234,788 363,711 Held in merchandise . . . 45,850 3,124 Held in copra, unsold . . 733,733 1.067,845 Held in rubber, unsold . . 4,306 3,371 Owed by sundry debtors 31.466 69.933 Furniture, etc 6,092 8,417 Motor vehicles 5,202 11,301 Watercraft 8,686 8,141 Buildings 20,031 25.012

Cash on hand £ 363,711 Stocks of mercnandise, copra, and rubber, less sums due to Sundry Creditors .. .. 312,675 Due to Sundry Debtors 69,933

Trading—Copra

1948 1949 £ £ On hand, from previous year 173,418 733,733 Copra purchased 1,140,878 2,099,610 Freights, insurance, handling and administration 119,102 229,671 Reserved for "Stabilisation” 114,386 329,529 Customs duty 42,614 137,702 Copra sold 878,444 2,602,263 Net profit for year .. .. 21,779 129,522 Stocks on hand, June 30 733,733 1,067,845 Adjustments paid on 1947-48 — 38,720

Trading—Rubber

1948 1949 - £ £ On hand, from previous year 52,636 4,306 Rubber purchased .. .. 272 — Insurance, duty, handling and administration 13,288 544 Rubber sold 71.060 1,491 Net profit for year .. .. 9,170 12 Stocks on hand, June 30 4,306 3,371

Trading—Merchandise

1948 1949 £ £ On hand, from previous year 206,414 45,851 Purchases 49.211 12,773 Handling and administration 6.788 1,805 Sales during year .. 222,758 59,586 Net profit for year .. 6,196 2,281 Stocks on hand, June 30 45.851 3,124

Profit And Loss

Account

1948 1949 Received from all trading, £ £ as shown above .. 37,216 131,811 Profit transferred to balance sheet 35,995 132,911

General Balance Sheet

Liabilities

1948 1949 £ £

Owing to Australia .. ..

450,000 450,000 Owing to sundry creditors, including sums due for produce received .. 419.592 761,665

V Furniture, motor vehicles, buildings, which might produce 40,000 f That totals in the neighbourhood of £780,000; to which can be added an in surance reserve of £37,000; less the £56,000 ■reserved for native welfare. Money always disappears in a realisation; but it does look as if the Board, on a wind-up 15 I months ago, would have had a surplus of between £400,000 and £500,000. It will be much more now—maybe £700,000 or

£Boo,Ooo.

It will be noted that most of the cost of running the organisation has been loaded onto the copra trading account, and that such cost represents about 10 per cent, of the gross sales.

Taking the two years, 1948 and 1949, as an example, it would appear that the New Guinea copra producer has been “socked” by Board and other Government instru mentalities like this:— Cost of administration .. 10 per cent.

Cost of duty collected .. 5 per cent.

Deduction for “stabilisa tion” 13.8 per cent.

Quite a healthy deduction from the sales of his hard-won product. Compari sons are odious —but probably the copra planter would rather have the private enterprise system—even if it should mean that there would be no profits wherewith to endow the Australian Government, and Native Welfare.

Dr. H. G. Knowles and his wife, Dr.

E. E. Knowles, have arrived in Fiji to take up their appointments as Medical Officers with the Medical Department.

The Australian Minister for the Navy announced in early August that HMAS Culgoa, a Navy frigate, would show the flag in New Guinea waters shortly.