NEW N.S.W. POST.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20274, 7 April 1934, Page 21

NEW N.S.W. POST.

London Representatives Appointed. OTTAWA PACT IN MIND. (Special to the “ Star.”) SYDNEY, March 28. The Premier announced a few week* ago that Cabinet had appointed an offi cial representative of New South Wales to look after the interests of the State in London. This decision caused some surprise, because it had been generally assumed that, with the withdrawal of Mr. A. C. Willis two years ago, the office of “Trade Commissioner” had , lapsed permanently. The charge that Mr. Willis had exploited his post for the purposes of political propaganda made his case exceptional. But the heavy expense involved and the presence of Mr. S. hi. Bruce as Australian High Commissioner in London seemed to make any further appointment of this nature superfluous. However, there was a certain ulterior motive behind this change of policy, and it was elucidated by Mr. Stevens at the official farewell dinner given in Sydney to our new representative, Mr. A. H. Heath, who is a highly respected and widely experienced man of busness. He has made a special study of international trade conditions for some years past, and he is particularly anxious to assist in the development of Australian trade on national and Federal lines. The Premier reminded hip audience at the farewell function that within 18 months* time the period fixed under the A schedule of the Ottawa Agreement will! have expired. “This means,” he explained, “that the three years* free entry into the United Kingdom of Australian eggs, butter, cheese, milk, poultry and dairy products will then be over”; and it is important that, at such a vital moment we should have a. representative stationed in London to protect our interests there. This is a point that does not seem to have been generally appreciated, and no doubt it is a sound excuse for the creation of this new office.

far, the effect produced upon public opinion by the working of the Ottawa Agreement does not seem to have been very satisfactory in the Dominions or at Home. In. Britain the primary producers and manufacturers are complaining bitterly, while in Australia our woolgrowers and dairy farmers and graziers are equally disappointed with their share of the bargain. When the short term prescribed for the operation of the agreement in its early stages has expired, there is sure to be a renewal of controversy, and if Mr. Heath can do something substantial in defence of Australian trade when the crisis comes, he will at least have earned hi* salary.