Download Fragment

Tuesday, 14 September 1937

Mr FORDE (Capricornia) - This proposal differs slightly from previous bounty proposals in respect of citrus fruits insofar as the bounty of 2s. a case in future will be paid in respect of all classes 'of citrus fruits exported to countries other than New Zealand. When a similar measure was before this Parliament last year the Opposition urged that the bounty should be broadened in this way and, therefore, it welcomes this measure. There are 10,500 growers engaged in the citrus industry throughout Australia. They are settlers with small capital and the industry could be developed extensively in New South Wales and Queensland. After the grower lays out his capital he has to wait a number of years before the trees come into productivity. Many of these growers have experienced a very lean time and anything that can be done to assist them will be greatly appreciated. I take it that mandarin growers are brought within the scope of this measure.

Mr Thorby - That is so, but they do not benefit to any great extent because there are not many export markets available to them.

Mr FORDE - This proposal will involve a total payment of £8,000; but as the industry produces 4,000,000 bushels of fruit a year, that is hut a very small measure of assistance. The average annual value of the industry's production in Australia is £1,465,000. In 1935-36 271,000 acres were under production compared with 281,000 acres in 1931-32, or a decrease of 10,000 acres over that period; but in 1913-14 only 248,000 acres were under production.

I was astonished to hear from the Assistant Minister (Mr. Thorby) that the difficulty in the way of reconciliation between Australia and New Zealand in the matter of the embargo was the need for measures to prevent the introduction of disease. Probably the honorable gentleman will be able to give us some idea as to the stage to which the negotiations for the complete removal of the embargo have progressed. At a conference held in Canberra about two years ago, which was attended by plant pathologists and representatives of the States and the Commonwealth as well as the Dominion of New Zealand, it was unanimously decided that it was no longer in the interests of public health that these quarantine prohibitions should be retained. It seems a pity that complete success has not attended the efforts to wipe out these prohibitions, for which, in the opinion of experts, there is no need to-day.

I read with interest a speech by the Honorable Robert Semple, Minister for

Agriculture in New Zealand, who recently visited several of the Australian States. At civic receptions he expressed the view that it was deplorable that any bad feeling should exist between the two dominions. In his opinion, there should be no restrictions imposed on trade between Australia and New Zealand. It was most unfortunate, he said, that New Zealand had prohibited the importation of oranges from Australia, and that Australia had prohibited the importation of potatoes from New Zealand. Surely, he said, the two countries could get together and come to an understanding of mutual advantage to each of them. I know, of course, that certain of the States do not want to meet the competition of potatoes from New Zealand. I shall not refer to that matter at the present time, except to ask the Minister to let me know whether his department has made any decision in regard to allowing potatoes from New Zealand to enter Australia. He has had the matter under consideration for a long time. It is a burning question in certain parts of Australia. He is being pressed by the citrusgrowers on the one hand, and the potato-growers on the other hand. What are his intentions? It was stated at the conference of experts to which I have referred, that the ordinary quarantine provisions would be sufficient to prevent the introduction of corky scab and fire blight into Australia and of sandy blight into New Zealand.

The embargo on the importation of citrus fruits from Australia was imposed by the Government of New Zealand in 1932. It was released in 1933 to the extent of admitting oranges from South Australia only. In 1934 the Government of New Zealand again decided to allow oranges from South Australia to enter that dominion, but only in specified quantities and by certain vessels. The Minister for Trade and Customs (Mr. White) has stated that negotiations have been proceeding without interruption. The Assistant Minister for Commerce may be able to explain the present position. Is Australia awaiting a reply from New Zealand, or is New Zealand awaiting a reply from Australia ? The volume of Australian trade with New Zealand, including bullion and specie, from the year 1927-28 to the year 1936-37, is shown in the following table : -

The value of the market in New Zealand to the Australian citrus-grower is shown by the exports of citrus fruits to that dominion. Those exports were valued at £40,000 in 1927-28, at £65,000 in 1928- 29, at £S0,000 in 1930-31, and at £129,000 in 1931-32. In 1933-34, owing to the imposition of the embargo, the value dropped to £55,000. In 1934-35, it was £105,000, in 1935-36 it was £131,000, and in 1936-37 it was £176,000. When one makes a survey of the imports of oranges into New Zealand one realizes that there is scope for a big development of our export trade to that dominion. The latest figures that I have been able to obtain from the Commonwealth Statistician show that in 1935 New Zealand imported from Australia. 45 per cent, of its requirements of citrus fruits, the balance being imported from the United States of America, British West Indies, and a number of other countries. As we are so close to New Zealand, there is no reason why we should not supply 75 per cent, of its requirements. There is no doubt that the imposition of the embargo against the importation of citrus fruits from Australia was a very serious blow to the Australian citrus-growers. That was shown by Mr. A. S. Brown and Mr. J. W. Black at a deputation that waited on the Minister for Commerce (Dr. Earle Page) some time ago. Mr. Brown said that, owing to the loss of the market in New Zealand, the Australian growers were faced with a surplus, and were in financial difficulties. Other growers who took part in the deputation drew attention to the same fact. In 1935, a total of 12,800,000 cwt. of oranges, valued at £10,473,000, was placed on the British market by all exporting countries. Australia's share of that was insignificant, its exports to Great Britain having a value of only £49,000, or 0.5 per cent. That position calls for investigation. Great Britain imports almost one-half of it3 total requirements between July and November, a period during which Australia could supply the British market with a greatly increased proportion. In 1936-37, the output of the citrus industry in Australia was 4,820,000 bushels-=-4,17 0,000 'bushels of oranges, and 650,000 bushels of lemons. The United Kingdom offers possibilities for the considerable expansion of the Australian citrus industry. The Assistant Minister is connected with a department that can assist the growers very materially in the development of that market. Apart from the loss of the market in New Zealand, the growers were handicapped during the depression because of the fall of the purchasing power of the Australian people. In many instances, fruit was regarded as a luxury, and the masses of the people had either to eliminate it entirely from the daily regimen, or greatly curtail their purchases. Now that there has been a return to something like a reasonable degree of prosperity, we can. look forward with some confidence to a. big expansion of the citrus industry in Australia. The local - market, of course, presents the greatest opportunities. I remind the citrus-growers that 62 per cent, of the whole of the products of the farms of Australia is consumed locally. It is to their interest as well as to the interest of the dairying industry, which sells 79 per cent, of its products in Australia, the pastoral industry, which sells 44 per cent, of its output locally, and the agricultural industry, which sells 65 per cent, on the home market, to develop that market by helping along the policy of the general protection of Australian industries.

---