Copra And Butter
p. 141 · Read in the full issue
And Votes
Australia’s Politico Economics
DEMANDS for the imposition of a duty on copra have been made upon the Australian Govern ment by organisations of dairy farmers. Because Australian economy now is based on the 40hour week, and a general unwilling ness by organised labour in Aus tralia to work even 40 hours, the costs of all goods and services in common use are steadily increas ing; and this, of course, has affected butter.
The Australian masses, unwilling to work, naturally have found themselves unable to pay a higher price for butter. Consequently they have turned to substitutes, and there is a marked increase in the consumption of margarine. The chief component of margarine vegetable oil—comes from copra.
Margarine manufacturers now are so skilful that it is difficult to tell the difference between good mar garine and butter.
Naturally, the dairy farmers do not like it. They are being nipped between two great factors which they cannot control—namely the introduction by the Socialist governments of the 40-hours week which has increased the production cost of most commodities (including butter); and the inability of the masses, under the reduced working to buy with their deflating t the goods they enjoyed under the 44-hours week.
But the farmers apparently are about as capable of understanding politico-economic laws as are the Trade Unionists. Instead of attack ing the factors which have raised the price of butter and reduced the buying power of the £, they are howling loudly against copra as the
cheap product of cheap native labour and are demanding that the Government impose upon all copra used for food in Australia such a duty that the price of margarine will be raised against the con sumers, so they will be driven back to butter.
As the Australian farmers have a lot of votes, and the Islands copra interests have none; and as the gentlemen who decide these things think almost always in terms of votes, it may be taken as quite likely that some sort of tariff will be put upon copra consumed in Australia. And thus another little nail will be hammered into Aus tralia’s economic coffin.
Wool is still in world demand; her other markets are lively; and so Australia, in spite of the extraordinary conditions which rule her internal economy, appears to prosper. But it is a pie-crust economy and the day of reckoning cannot be delayed indefinitely.