COMMONWEALTH SHIPPING LINE

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 31, 1 August 1923, Page 15

COMMONWEALTH SHIPPING LINE

Statement by the Federal Prase lisister

In the, Federal Parliament about three weeks ago, the Prime Minister (Mr;. Bruce) introduced a Bill which proposes to hand the management of the Commonwealth steamers over to the Australian ...Commonwealth Shipping Board, which will conduct the "management of the steamers in future. During the" couse of a lengthy speech detailing the operations of. the Commonwealth Steamship Line, Mr. Bruce stated that for the financial year 192:1-22 the net loss amounted to £1,171,570, while for the financial year ending June 30 last the estimated loss was £1,626,150. The net losses en the whole of the fleet during ■the period of its existence amounted to £2,645,761. The losses during the last two years wer due to the general slump in •shipping throughout the world, to the unsuitability of some of the Commonwealth shipping tonnage'for Australian purposes, and to the high rates for interest and depreciation due to the heavy capital cost. In order that the Board may take over control of the line at its present market, value it was proposed to write down the value of the ships from £12,766,588 to £1,718,150. The Board would also take charge of Cockatoo Dockyard. REASONS FOR LOSSES. Regarding the losses sustained during the last two years, the Prime Minister said that although at first sight these figures were very alarming they were not nearly as serious. a,s •they appeared. •• There were a great many reasons why losses had been experienced by the line during the last two years. The first was that-the . last two years had been the most disr astro'us the shipping world had ever experienced. There had.been a heavy increase in the tonnage of shipping available and a heavy decrease in the amount of tonnage that had to be carried. Owing to the stagnation of trade nothing like the sa.me amount of cargo was carried now as was the case before the war. As a result of the great efforts made during the war to increase the world's shipping tonnage an amount of tonnage far in excess of what was required was available to-day. The result was that the value of shipping had been very greatly reduced. LINE JUSTIFIED ITSELF. Considering its services to Australia, the shipping line had more than justified itself, continued Mr. Bruce. Its establishment was a stroke of genius, and it had brought inestimable benefit to the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth had come out of the venture "very satisfactorily considering the experiences of other countries. The only figures excludedfrom the statement of the financial position of the line were those that concerned wooden tonnage built for Australia, which the Ministry considered had nothing to do with the shipping line. The wooden ships were built purely as a war measure. Mr. Bruce then outlined proposals to transfer the administration of the line to a Board. HUGHES ATTACKS GOVERNMENT. In the debate which followed, Mr. W. M. Hughes said he favoured the appointment of a Board free from political control. He could not understand the extraordinary reduction of values that had been made by the Board. The reduction was not at all justified by the circumstances of the market at present, nor in th& position j in which the line found itst-lf. He wanted to know who were the valuers. •Labour members: Another woollen mills valuation. Mr. Hughes pointed out that the vessels had been written down year by year, and the present writing down to 33 per .cent, of the book values could only he in the interests of those wishing to purchase the ships. He attacked -those who condemned the line on the score that it prevented free competition. How "much competition was there in the British shipping business, where there were no government-owned vessels? There was none. He was opposed to curtailing the activities of the Commonwealth Line, and allowing transport to and from England to he controlled by the Shipping Combine. Labour members, who. followed Mr. Hughes that if he made many more speeches along those lines he would soon find himself a political Ishmael. The House subsequently rejected a Labour Party motion providing for workers' represenfertion on the Board.