AUSTRALIAN WHEAT

Press, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 25440, 11 March 1948, Page 8

AUSTRALIAN WHEAT

“ CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MISAPPREHENSION ” MINISTER’S COMMENTS “It appears that there is a certain amount of misapprehension concerning the Australian wheat stabilisation plan, and I think it may be useful to set out certain basic facts about the plan,” said the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr A. H. Nordmeyer) Mr Nordmeyer said that his attention had been drawn to correspondence on the subject of wheat which had appeared in “The Press.” Mr Nordmeyer said that a brief outline of the plan, as announced by the Commonwealth Government in January, made the following points:— (1) The Commonwealth Government will guarantee to growers a price of 6s 3d a bushel f.o.r. ports, bulk, for all wheat sold by the Wheat Board for export or for consumption within Australia.

(2) When the export price exceeds the guaranteed price growers will contribute to the wheat stabilisation fund 50 per cent, of the excess above 6s 3d, with a maximum contribution of 2s 2d a bushel.

(3) The stabilisation fund is set at a minimum of £20,000,000, from which will be drawn any amounts necessary to meet the guaranteed price should a fall in export prices make this necessary.

(4) Should the fund become exhausted in any year the Government will provide tne amount necessary to honour its guarantee out of the general revenue.

(5) The scheme, at 6s 3d, is operative from January 19, 1948, until the end of the 1951-52 wheat season and applies to wheat for stock food as well as for human consumption.

“The position, therefore, is that under this scheme the growler cannot get less than 6s 3d a bushel at ports, but may get more,” Mr Nordmeyer said. “How much more he will get depends on a number of factors; first of all on the size of the harvest (determining the quantity available for export), and then on the relationship between export prices and the fulfilment of obligations to the wheat stabilisation fund. “The total returns that have been paid to Australian growers in recent seasons are as follows:—for the 1945-46 crop, 6s 2sd paid up to September, 1947, with a further payment to be made by December, 1948, to bring the total to about 7s 4d; for the 1946-47 crop, a preliminary estimate was made of 6s 7d and a later one for a total return of 7s 6|d. “The return for the 1947-48 season will be substantially higher than these figures, but it is not possible to make any accurate assessment at this stage. “Settling Down Process”

“The recent sharp fell in wheat prices on the Chicago market suggests that a settling down process is taking place and this must necessarily affect Australian export prices. Moreover, it is expected that the maximum price level under any international wheat agreement will be well below the Australian contract prices with the United Kingdom and India.

“Under these contracts, the prices must be .adjusted to those egreed to under the international agreement, and, the new prices will apply to all wheat shipped after the agreement comes into force. If that agreement comes into force this year and if only part of the 80.000,000 bushels for the United Kingdom has been shipped up to that time, the balance, whatever it may be. will be chargeable at the international agreement price. It now appears that such an agreement will be concluded, though at this stage it is not known what Governments will be parties to it, or wjiat the final price will be. Therefore, the final payment to the Australian grower cannot be estimated with any degree of accuracy.”

Mr Nordmeyer also referred to questions which had been asked about the prices at which New Zealand was obtaining wheat from Australia. “There are two aspects of this question, one relating to the price for supplies obtained under our present contract with Australia, and the other relating to the price of any extra wheat required above the contract quantity,” said the Minister.

“The increased price of 6s 4d is being paid on the quantity of wheat supplied under contract after January 19, 1948. The maximum amount of wheat which can be obtained in any one year under the contract is 4.500.000 bushels.. The price to be paid for any extra wheat required above the contract quantity will be negotiated with the Australian authorities.”

A question had also been asked as to what Nev/ Zealand would pay after the expiry of the present contract, but that could not be answered until the present International Wheat Conference decision'* were finally known, Mr Nordmeyer said.