Open War

Dairy Farmers Open War Against Copra

AUSTRALIA’S dairy farmers who last year could not supply the Commonwealth’s domestic butter market, and could not have cared less, now want a higher tariff im posed on imported copra, basis of most table margarine.

Dairy farmers say that they are “alarmed” at the drop in butter con sumption and apparently feel that they can make things better all round if they force up the price of mar garine.

At present butter sells retail in Aus tralia for 4/11 per pound. Margarine is 2/6 per pound. In the eight months up till August, 1952, butter xmsumption fell by 3,757 tons; mar garine consumption rose by about 2,000.

Australia is traditionally a butter bating country. The only reason why lousewives are buying less butter and giving their families margarine is hat margarine is cheaper. Modern margarine has most of the virtues of cutter and can scarcely be dis inguished from it—but most house vives would buy butter in preference f it were the same price.

If primary producers can prevail ipon the Government to levy special iuties on copra (and primary pro iucers have votes and P-NG copra >roducers have not) so that the price >f margarine is forced up somewhere iear that of butter, the only practical esult will be that housewives will be ible to afford neither.

Australian producers (and manu acturers) have now become so used o their cost-plus system of economics hat they really believe that it is >etter to sell no butter at 4/H per >ound, than a great deal of butter it, say, 3/- per pound. If they can dd their percentage of profit to their osts, and the public still buys—then hey are happy. If the public stops ►uying, they do not try to reduce osts by way of more efficiency, but trive to stifle competition by forcing jovernments to impose restrictions >n the other fellow.

We may expect to hear any time iow that copra (therefore margarine) 5 produced by black slave labour in Australia’s tropical territories, fat •refits thus gained going to the lazy /hite planters who thereby virtually ake the bread out of the mouths of Australia’s down-trodden dairy armers.

Australian housewives’ associations

say they will fight tooth and nail against any increase in the price of margarine, but the whole fracas is symptomatic of Australia’s muddled economic thinking.