AUSTRALIAN TRADE

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 147, 17 March 1933, Page 10

AUSTRALIAN TRADE

Next Week’s Meeting LENGTHY DISCUSSION Plans for Delegation TREATY UNDER REVIEW (By Our Parliamentary Representative) Considerable interest is being shown in political circles in the arrival next Monday of the Australian delegation headed by Senator Massey Greene, a member of the Commonwealth Ministry, to discuss with representatives of the New Zealand Government the whole question of trade relations between the two countries. It is now dear that the discussions will involve far more than negotiations concerning the removal of New Zealand’s embargo on the importation of Australian fruit and vegetables which was imposed toward the end of last year. Preparations are being made by the New Zealand Government to enter upon a fairly protracted conference, and it is understood authoritatively that there is every possibility of the trade relations of the two Dominions being thoroughly overhauled. This may mean the revision of the existing trade treaty between Australia and New Zealand, and there is authority for stating that if this will mean the bringing about of more mutually profitable commercial intercourse, this Dominion will not object to the discussions being opened from this angle. Complete Preparations. Complete preparations are being made by the Minister of Finance and Customs, Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, in collaboration with the Customs Department, in order to be in a position to facilitate the negotiations and to be able to present New Zealand’s case in the best interests of both importers and exporters. Mr. Coates will natur-

allv conduct the negotiations on behaif of New Zealand, and in view of the fact that any understanding reached will not go outside the provisions of the Ottawa agreements, his experience as leader of the New Zealand delegation to Canada will be valuable.

It. has been arranged that the conference will be held at Parliament House, and it is likely that a special suite of rooms will 'be set aside for the accommodation of the Australian delegation. The importance which the Commonwealth attaches to the forthcoming discussions may be gauged fro mthe personnel of the official party, which reaches here on Monday. Seantor Greene will be accompanied by:— Mr. J. McKinnon, of the Federal Quarantine Department. Mr. A. Horan, an official of the Federal Treasury and Customs Department. Mr. C. B. Carter, of the Federal Department of Trade and Commerce, who was a member of the official Australian delegation to the Ottawa Conference. Professor A. E. V. Richtardson, Professor of Agriculture at the University of Adelaide, who will act as an official adviser and who was also a member of the Australian delegation to the Ottawa Conference. Mr. W. Deady, Private Secretary. The party will stay at the Midland Hotel while in Wellington. Welcome by Mr. Forbes.

The Prime Minister, Rt. Horr. G. W. Forbes, is expected to return to Wellington on Sunday morning from his home at Cheviot, where he has been restiing after the session, and he will thus be in the capital to welcome Senator Greene on his arrival. It is unlikely that any formal work will be done on Monday. Senator Greene will probably make official calls on members of the Cabinet, and he may confer with. Mr. Coates concerning the work to be done by the conference. It is expected that the discussion will run into two weeks or even more, for the amount of ground to be covered is admitted in official circles to be considerable, while the Issues to be dealt with will be of farreaching importance. K