AUSTRALIA'S WHEAT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 135, 5 December 1939, Page 4

AUSTRALIA'S WHEAT

HER GREATEST WORRY

GROWERS THREATEN STRIKE

UNCOVERED COSTS

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

SYDNEY, November 32,

Wheatgrowers, especially in Western

Australia and Victoria, have declared their intention to strike as a means of protesting against the Federal Government's acquisition of wheat at a ■ price which, they claim, does not cover , the cost of production. Political ex-1 • perts declare that, if the Government! 1 has anything to worry' about, it is wheat. Protests were aroused by the announcement of the Prime Minister (Mr. Menzies) that the proceeds of the flour tax and the special Government subsidy of £2,000,000 would form part of the finance necessary to pay farmers the guaranteed price for the current harvest. It is claimed that both should be used to provide additional payments to growers over and above the guaranteed price to bring the -return to producers somewhere near the cost of production. The Government has guaranteed a loan of more than £20,000,000 from the Commonwealth Bank to the Australian Wheat Board, to finance the harvest. The basis of the advance is payment to growers of 2s 9d a bushel for b&gged wheat and 2s 7d for bulk wheat on rail at . shipping ports. Growers will receive Is 9d a bushel for bagged wheat and Is 7d a bushel for bulk wheat, when their wheat is delivered to agents of the Wheat Board, and the balance of Is a bushel, less freight to ports, during February. Concessions made in the original plan are deduction of freight from the second payment, instead of the first, and payment of the second amount in February of April. GOVERNMENT'S PROBLEM. Most political observers declare that the Government has made a reasonable attempt to meet a situation that is almost beyond the control of domestic economy. It is generally agreed that the wheatgrower is having a hard time, and, even with the advance that the Government will make, will still be in difficulties. It is pointed out, however, that the reasons for this are beyond the Commonwealth's control and that it is impossible for the Government to set aside an unlimited amount for wheat aid. Serious attention is being paid to the fact that, in acquiring the wheat, the Government has no idea what it can do to dispose of a substantial proportion of it—a point that has induced official circles not to take too seriously the threat of farmers to withhold supplies. Actually it would be in the Government's favour if supplies were withheld. Another aspect to which weight is attached is Mr, Menzies's argument that the Government will make an> advance of only l|d less than Country Party members informed the Government was reasonable. Both Country and Labour Parties criticise the Government's plans for assisting the industry. Country Party members are expected to press for a guaranteed ultimate price of 3s 6d a bushel. There is strong agitation from wheat growers' organisations and electorates for the Country Party to exercise its balance of power to force the Government's hand as a means of obviating the "nepessity for direct action." The Country Party is unlikely to apply the pressure, because it has no desire to force an election on a sectional issue. ATTITUDE OF GROWERS. Victorian wheat growers have originated proposals to carry into the Federal Parliament their objection to the Government acquiring wheat at a price which, they claim, does not cover the cost of production, and to test the legality of the Government's right to do so. A\ spokesman said that growers recognised that the Wheat Board has power to acquire the crop compulsorily, but they had yet to learn that it had power to compel the farmers to cart it. Wheat growers in Western Australia went further. Their organisation cabled to the Prime Ministers of Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa: "Australian wheat growers express loyalty to the Empire, but owing to the compulsory acquirements of Australian wheat and wool, growers have declared a strike." Officials of the Wheatgrowers' Union are perfecting an organisation to police and picket every siding, should circumstances warrant such action, to prevent » growers delivering their wheat. Ministers discount these threats arid think wheat growers will eventually realise that the terms represent the utmost the Commonwealth can provide. Referring to the union's cablegrams to oversea Prime Ministers, Mr. Menzies said: "I can hardly believe that any responsible body of wheat growers would follow such a course. Apparently they have cabled any Prime Minister they could think of except myself,, but no doubt the usual procedure will be followed and each of these Prime Ministers' will refer the matter back to me." Concerning the wheat position generally, Mr. Menzies said: "The interference with the world's shipping has produced a most acute problem in the marketing of wheat. It may well be that a substantial amount will still be in Australia in a year's time—unsold and subject to depredations of time, weevils, and mice, and with another crop coming on. In these circumstances the payment of £20,000,000 guaranteed by the Government and made irrespective of sale represents the most generous proposition made in the history of Australian wheat. If sales turn out better than we anticipate and this advance is recouped and a better total price can ultimately be secured, nobody will be better pleased than I will be." It is believed that for the next year the Commonwealth Government will consider restricting wheat plantings drastically, either under the Commonwealth's wartime powers or by arrangement with the States, in some form of licensing wheat growers. Unless such action is taken, it is feared that the wheat" problem next year will be evon more acute than it is now. Unofficially, it is stated that the Government will be relieved and surprised if, after sales of the coming harvest, it is left with a liability of less than £8,000,000.