Fight For £1,500,000

NG Copra Producers Demand The ‘Stabilisation’ Fund

ATTLE has been joined between the strongly - organised New inea Planters’ Association and the stralian Minister for Territories, . Hasluck.

U in so many other spheres, the sent Australian Government has tinued the Socialist type of con imposed on the copra industry Chifley-Evatt-Eddie Ward set-up, the planters finally have decided ight it. /ard, as Minister, originally seized Territories’ production, including ra, and in 1946 he deducted from copra planters’ returns a levy, png to £4 per ton, for what he dually called a “Stabilisation d”. For years, it was a confused of thing—in fact, it was only :d “stabilisation” after the Dur Government was defeated— even now it has no clearly led legal status. nowing the vagaries of the <:et, copra growers at first did protest too much; but, when the sh Ministry of Food Contract J in 1949, giving a fixed price nine years, the planters quite erly argued that there was now

’urther need for “stabilisation”,

demanded the distribution of the reaucracy—hating, as always, to up any privilege or money— ed to either cease the levy or bute the Fund. For two years, 'lanters have hammered away at Minister. ’• Hasluck went to the Terri last month and, in Moresby on mber 21, he announced:— The Government had “definitely out” the requests for the dis on of the Fund to individual pro s the Fund, now around £1,500,000, by levies for the benefit industry as a whole, it should be \ rt t d a . Stabilisation Fund to be 1 by Ordinance, and administered Board of who the majority would mt the producers. The levy would Je, unless and until cancelled by a f a majority of producers, where the Fund would revert to a 1 Fund, to be used for the assist of copra or other agricultural ies, as the then Minister might fhe present constitution of the Marketing Board will not be spection and grading of Copra will produced very soon, with a •tial of £3/10/0 per ton for hot- I sun-dned over smoked. tireless president of the NG

Planters Association, Mr. Don Barrett, MLC, thereupon flew from Rabaul to Moresby, and interviewed the Minister.

The nature of the discussion is indicated by the forthright announce ment made immediately afterwards by Mr. Barrett namely, that the Association, having received the advice of a leading constitutional lawyer in Australia, would forthwith promote a legal action against the Australian Government, to force it to return this accumulation of £1,500,000 to the people from whom it was taken, compulsorily and with out consultation.

Some substantial sums are at

stake. For example, a planter who has produced 50 tons of copra per month for six years and been sub jected to that levy might expect to receive something like £lO,OOO if the Courts rule against the Govern ment.

Mr. P. R. Searcy, general man ager of Bunge (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.’s four flour mills in Australia, and Mr. D. M. Kamerling, manager of the firm’s Islands Department, made a business trip to Fiji, Samoa and Tahiti, by air from Sydney, in November.

Mr. George Hunt, formerly well known in Tahiti, expects to sail from Sydney for French Oceania in his yacht Corsair, at the end of De cember, accompanied by Mrs. Hunt and a small crew. Before heading Islands-ward, the yacht will call at Auckland, NZ.