Queensland

Parliamentary Debates [Hansard]

Legislative Assembly

WEDNESDAY, 19 NOVEMBER 1947

Electronic reproduction of original hardcopy

Supply. [19 NOVEMBER.] Questions. 1481:

WEDNESDAY, 19 NOVEMBER, 1947.

Mr. SPEAKER (Hon. S. J. Brassington, Fortitude Valley) took the chair at 11 a.m.

QUESTIONS.

BO'J'TLING OF DRAUGHT BEER.

~Ir. WAN STALL (Toowong) asked the Attorney-General-

'' 1. With reference to his reply of 13th instant to my question relating to a 'Tele­graph' article dealing with malpractices in hotels, including unhygienic back-room bottling of draught beer, has he avniled himself of the invitation of the ''l'ele· graph' published on 14th instant, to apply to the editor for identifying particularR concerning the 'bcer·sucker,' and other relevant facts~

'' 2. Has his attention been drawn to a further article on this subject publishe<l in the 'Telegraph' on 15th instant reciting a series of other unhygienic practices in Brisbane hotels~

'' 3. Has he accepted the writer's invita­tion to accompany him on an official inspection of the conditions referred to! If not, what action does he propose to take to improve hygiene in Brisbane hotels so us to protect the health of the people?''

1482 Qne8tion8. [ASSEMBLY.] Question8.

Hon. D. A. GLEDSON (Ipswich) replied-,' 1. The Licensing Commission has

requested the editor of the Telegraph N"ewspaper Company to supply the identi­fying particulars, and is now awaiting a reply. For the information of the hon. member, I am advised that the hotel­keeper does not derive any additional profit from thB sale of bottled draught beer. A gallon of draught beer is sold by the bottle for 9s. 6d., while a gallon of draught beer sold in the public bar by the glass returns 10s. The breweries sell beer in proprietary and branded bottles which always remain their property. The legal gentleman should know that hotel­keepers cannot use these bottles and, consequently, any bottles used for bottling tlraught beer woul·cl be bottles not used by ihe breweries. There is an acute shortage of bottled beer, due to the lack of bottles brought about by the fact that during the war very fe>v bottles were manufactured here, and loss of bottles clue to supply of lJottled beer to troops in distant islands and overseas areas. Since the war the position has not improved and now is more acute due to a worl-d shortage of soda-ash. Hotelkeepers do bottle a small proportion of draught beer to meet the •:lemand of their regular customers for home consumption, which demand cannot be met with brewery-bottled beer. . '' 2. Yes. I do not propose to personally mspect hotels. These inspections are a matter for officers of the Public Service "·ho carry out their duties conscientiously.

"3. No. I will not accept the invitation to participate in the suggested 'pub c-rawl.' Official inspections of hotels are made by Health Inspectors and Licensing Inspectors. This ~overnment has always endeavoured and >nll continue to cn<iea,·~ our to. tuke nc-tion to hnprove h;vg-iene not ~nly m hotels but in all other places frequented by the public. Consideration for public_ health a;nd welfare has always l1een a pnmary ob.]ecti.-e of this Govern­ment, as its records show.''

l'ROJECTORS AND RADIO EQUIPMENT FOR STATE SCHOOLS.

, Mr. MORRIS (Enoggera) asked the Recretary for Public Instruction-

' '.Further to my questions regarding film ]HOJectors nnd radio machines for State !'ch?ols-in the case of a school committee 11:1vmg purchased a machine which is in the opinion of the school committee 'and hi'ad teacher, giving satisfactory service will that .committeP- be permitted to retair~ t.hc machme . the:z po_ss~ss, or will they be rorced to relmqmsh rt m favour of one of i he standardised machines~''

Hon. D. A. GLEDSON (Ipswich­Attorney-General), for Hon. H. A. BRUCE (The Tableland), replie·cl-

'·' The Department will approve for s~hool u~e and p_ay subsidy only on the ·'candard_tsed radrogram equipment and frl.m pro,Jectms. Schools already equipped 1nll be allowed to continue to use the ecjuipment they possess.''

SHORTAGE OF WHEAT SACKS.

Itir. SP ARKES (Aubigny) asked the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock-

'' 1. Has he received advice that there is a shortage of 75,000 'wheat sacks in the Dal by district~

'' 2. Is he aware that wheat harvesting has been suspendefl on several farms because of this shortage~

'' 3. What action is he taking to over­come this shortage and when does he expect that additional supplies of sacks will become available~ "

Hon. H. H. COLLINS (Cook) replied­'~1. No. "2. No. I am advised by the manager

of the State Wheat Board that no reports of suspension of harvesting on account of bag shortage have been received by him.

'' 3. Any action necessary to be taken to overcome any alleged shortage should be taken by the Wheat Board. This Board is farmer-controlled and is quite capable of dealing with any problems that may arise from time to time, as it has always done in past years.''

SHIE'T AND WEEK-END IV"ORI( AT .WHEAT DuMPS.

lUr. SPARKES (Aubigny) asked the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock-

'' In view of the slow unloading of trucks, because of working only one shift at wheat clumps, c:msing an undue hold-up of trucks and a probable loss of large quantities of wheat. in case of wet weather, will hl' endeavour, through the Chairman of the ·wheat Board, to accelerate this work by >Yorking extra shifts and continuing work during week-ends~"

Hon. H. H. COLLI~S (Cook) replied-'' These matters are under the complete

direction of the grower-controlled Wheat Board. In respect of local problems, an enquiry directed to the local Wheat Board member would no doubt elicit the neces· sary information.''

EXPOR'l' OF JOINERY TO OTHER STATES.

lUr. H. B. TAYLOR (Hamilton) asked the l\Iinistn for 'l'ransport-

'' 1. Is he a ware that sashes and doors are being t-rucked down to Sydney as back­loading for material brought by road to this State?

'' 2. In view of the fact that sashes and <loors are in acnte short supply here, will he ensure N1at Queensland's nBeds are met with regard to these and any othet short supply items before permits are issued for such back-loading~''

Hon. J. E. DUGGAN (Toowoomba) replied-

'' 1. Yes. Only one permit was issued for the transport of 500 doors urgently required by the Victorian Housing Com­mission. The permit, which was issued on 22 September, 1947, followed a consultation

Questions. [19 NovEMBER.] 'l'rade Descriptions, &:c., Amd. Bill.

with the Housing Commission in this State. It may be appropriate to remind the hon. member that Queensland draws consider­able quantities of building material from the Southem States, which are in extremely short supply throughout the Commonwealth. Any action calculated to destroy the reciprocal arrangements now operating would be most undesirable.''

''2. Yes.''

GoVERK~!EXT I'RINTEW's V\TORK FOR LABOUR,

PARTY.

Mr. LUCKINS (Maree) asked the rrreaSlll"el'-

'' 1. Is he aware that the Government Printer prints a monthly bulletin for the Australian Labour Party (Queensland Branch)~

'' 2. Does he consider it a correct use of the Govemment Printing Office facilities tlwt it should he employed on regular party-political work?

'' 3. 'What is the cost· of p•rinting done for the Australian Labour Party in each month of the cunent year, up to the end of October?

'' 4. Will he table the statements and receipts involved in these transactions~"

Hon. J. LARCOMBE (Rockhampton) replied-

'' 1. Yes. '' 2. Yes. The Government Printer is a

trading concern and undertakes work for other organisations also.

"3 and 4. Charges for printing, 1 J anu­ary, 1947, to 31 October, 1947, ,£384 5s. Sd. Receipts, 1 January, 1947, to 31 October, 1947, £365 4s. 2d. Outstanding, £19 1s. 6d. The amount outstanding represents the account for the month of October, 1947.''

PREMIER AND CoMMONWEALTiH GOVERNMENT.

Mr. PIE (Windsor), without notice, asked the Premier-

'' In view of his present attitude towards the Federal Governme11t in the matter of the Joint Coal Board, which we support, will the Premier-

1. State , whether he attended as a Queensla'nd delegate a spe<lial Federal Australian Labour Party Conference at Canberra in November, 1945, at which a plan to implement a full socialisation, centralisation an·d nationalisation policy was adopted~

2. Did he at such conference move key resolutions dealing with the nationalisa­tion of industries g

3. If so, can he reconcile his public attitude now to what it was in the secrecy of the conference room and in the pre­sence of the Prime Minister at Canberra two yea'rs ago~ ' '

Hon. E. M. HANLON (Ithaca-Premier) replied-

'' The hon. member evidently iS' suffer­ing from a bad dream. He has an obses­sion about the Commonwealth Government which I have not. What happened at a

Labour Conference some two or more years ago is entirely a matter for the people who pa'rticipated. 'l'he hon. member, although quite willing to become a member of the Labour Party a few years ago is not a member and therefore he is not entitled to know what happens at such conferences.''

PERSONAL EXPLANATION.

Hon. J. E. HUGGAN (Toowoomba­Minister for 'l'ransport) ( 11.13 a.m.), b,v leave: I desire leave of the House to make a, personal explanation.

Preparatory to my leaving my office yester­day morning to attend the House, I received a telephone call from the hon. member foY Bowen, Mr. F. IN. Paterson, who extended a courtesy to me by informing me of his inten­tion to ask me a question, without the custom­ary notice, relating to the diversion to duties normally carried out by members oi' the Australian Railwa'ys Union of employees of railway unions not directly affected by the decision of the Australian Railways Union to stop work for 24 hours.

In the course of preparing a reply to the hon. member's question information came into my possession from the Commissioner for Rail­ways which disclos,ed that, of a total of slightly more than 500 members of the Austra­lian Railways· Union emJJJoyed in the Ipswich workshops 111 were away without any reason and 38 were a\vay for reasons of illness, mak­ing a total absence of 149 Australian Railways Union men.

Because of the relevance of this information to certain aspects of the reply which I pro­posed to furnish I intimated to members of the, House that only 21 per cent. of Australian Railways Union members absented themselves without leave from the Ipswich railway work­shops yesterday.

Because of the importance of this informa­tion, confirmation as to the accuracy of the figures submitted was S'ought by the Secretary, Mr. Lingard, and also by the Commissioner, who personally telephoned the responsible officer at Ipswich. I regret having to inform the House that the information furnished from Ipswich yesterday was grossly inaccurate and constitutes an inexcusable error on the part of the officer responsible. Suitable action will be taken to issue a reprimand.

I wish to take this opportunity of offering my sincere regrets to the House for having tendered information that was inaccurate a'nd capable of false interpretation.

TRADE DESCRIPTIONS (TEXTILE PRO­DUCTS) ACT AMENDMENT BILL.

INITIATION IN CoMl\IIT'I"EE.

(The Chairman of Committees, Mr. Mann, BriS'bane, in the chair.)

Hon. A. JONES (Charters Towers­Sec:retary for Health and Home Affa!irs) (11.15 a.m.): I move-

'' That it is desirable that a Bill be, introduced to amend the Trade Descriptions (Textile Products) Act of 1944 in certain particulars.''

1484 Trade ·JJesi:rij/t:ions, &c., [ASSE:MBL Y.] Act Amendment Bill.

The proposed Bill is a ve1;y short one and contains only four clauses. ·Its purpose is the compulsory la belling of ·woollen goods. Hon. members will reme!hber ·that over the ~·ea•rs much controversy has ·taken place as to the necessity for legislation in this regard. As a matter of fact, every State in the Com­monwealth at some time or another has passed legislation dealing with the compulsory label­ling of textiles but in no instance has this legislation been implemented. As far back as 1939 a conference was held between State ::\1inisters and Commonwealth and trade offi­,·ials at Canberra, at which representatives "of the Australian vVool Board, the Australian Wool-Growers' Council, the Associated Cham­bers of Manufactures, the Master Drapers' Association, the Council for Scientific and Indusbrial Research and the Federal Customs and Commerce Departments attended. Shortly after that conference the war broke out and nothing was done until about 1944, when another conference was held between representatives of the States at which it was agreed that legislation should be passed by all the States having as its object the com­pulsory labelling of textile pToducts. A Bill was passed through this Chamber in 1944 l'or that purpose and similar legislation 1'-l'as passed through every State Parliament in Australia. Although that legislation was passed the only State that proclaimed its legislation was Victoria, and it has not been implemented yet. In no instance in the other States has the legislation been p•ro­C'laimed.

Mr. Nicklin: Has not our Act been pro­daimed ~

Mr. JONES: No. The Act has not been proclaimed in any other State of the Com­monwealth than Victoria and the legislation in that State, although proclaimed, has not been implemented. The trouble is the lack of uniformity in the legislation that has been passed. Although legislation was passed by the various States it was not uniform; con­sequently it· led to much bickering between the States.

Mr. Pie: It was supposed to be uniform.

Mr. JONES: It was supposed to be based on the Victorian Act, but much of the legis· '!ation passed by the States was not so based.

In August of this year a furthe~· ·con· fcrence was held at Canberra at which all States were represented. It was decided that the States should get down to some uniform basis in the matter of labelling textiles. It has been agreed now by all the States in the Commonwealth that a Bill similar to the amending Bill I am bringing down will be passed with the object of making the labelling of woollen goods compulso•ry. It is not intended to make this legislation applicable to cott·on or rayon goods because it is believed that if compulsory labelling of cotton and rayon goods is insisted on many overseas firms will not send their goods to Australia. I believe that is so.

The various States have agreed to pass this legislation and proclaim it as from 31 March next yea•r. There has. been considerable pres­sure from the woollen interests over the years

for something to be done along these lines. All hon. members will agree that it is neces· sary to protect the Australian wool industry. After all, it means a great deal to Australia and queensland in particular.

It is proposed to exempt from labelling certain textile products. This will be done by a regulation made under Section 6 of the Principal Act.

Mr. Pife: Have you any idea what they are~

Mr. JONES: The hon. member can easily get the exemptions. Actually compulsory labelling will apply only to godds wholly or in part made of wool. Articles outside that description will be exempted.

The provisions of this Bill do not go as 'f:i'r 1perhaps as the queensland Government would like but nevertheless in order to get 'll'niformitv between the States it has been necessary· to agree to this measure, with the restrictions that I have referred to.

·~ believe that it is desirable that this legis­latiOn should be brought down. It is useless having the Acts on the statute books unless effect is given to them. It seems ridiculous that in 1944 all the States should have agreed to pass uniform legislation and that although the Acts were passed they are not in opera­tion. The fact is that it did not turn out to be uniform legislation and that is our diffi· culty today. Representatives of the States have now met and come to an agreement as to the type of legislation they are prepared to put through their respective Parliaments, and the Bill I am bringing down today is intended for that purpose. As the Act stands, IYhen the suggested exemptions from labelling are made, the wholesale seller and the retailer of textile products will have the obligation of ensuring that every product that contains wool is correctly labelled with the percentage of each fibre present, such as wool 60 per cent., cotton or other fibre 40 per cent. All goods with any wool content must be labelled correctly, so that the purchaser will know what he is buying. That I believe is in itself desirable in the interests of the woollen industry. I have been shown various synthetic substitutes over the last few days, and I am satisfied· that only an expert would be able to tell whether they contained wool or not. I am sure I could not.

Mr. Pie: The wholesaler and retailer will not be able to tell you; the manufacturer will.

l\Ir. JONES: That is so. On the second reading I will bring down a few samples.

l\'Ir. Pie: I have some here.

l\'Ir. JONES: I should be very surprised if the average layman would be in a position to detect the synthetic from the genuine article. In any case, if the seller wrongly describes an article as containing wool he may be proceeded against under the provisions of the Health Acts for selling an artiele that is falsely described.

Trade Descriptions, &c., [19 NoVEMBER.] Act Amendment Bill. 1485

That, briefly, is the text of the measure. There is nothing in it other than the com­pulsory labelling of woollen goods. It will restrict the proclamation of the Act to the extent to which this amendment will apply.

Mr. PIE (Windsor) (11.23 a m.) : As the Minister said, it does seem ridiculous for us to be amending an Act that has never been implemented. The Bill was introduced in 1944, but it has· not been implemented here, and we are now considering an amending Bill. When we go back and look at the record of the debates in 1944 we find that we correctlv prophesied what would happen. At tha't time we pointed out that the wording of the Bill could m0an anything-jute goods, cotton goods synthetic goo'.ls, chair canvas or anything at all. At that time there was a uniform Bill that had to go through every Parliament, and the Minister would not accept an amendment even though the practical-minded realised that the Bill could not be implemented. The very thing the Minister has explained today was apparent to us. If the manufacturers through­out the world had to label their cotton goods, rayon goods and jute goods, as provided for in the original Bill, they would say, "Why should we do something for Australia that we do not have to do for anv other eountrv1 '' That is a big reason why· the Bill has· not been implemented.

Every textile manufaeturer in Australia, particularly in the woollen industry, welcomes this measure. Far too many substitutes have been used throughout the war. I had an opportunity of going over Courtaulds' experi­mental plant in Bradford. I saw materials there that I would defy anyone to say were not all wool. This material I hold in mv hand is 70 per cent. rayon staple and 30 per cent wool. It would be very difficult for any untrained man to ascertain what quanti­ties of wool and/ or rayon were in this sample but the Minister has said that the wholesaler and the retailer will be responsible. How can they tell what quantity of wool is in this sample, for instance 1 The only person who knows that is the manufacturer.

Mr. Jones: He will see what he gets.

Mr. PIE: That is all very well. For instance, if the manufacturer had labelled this material ''50 per cent. wool and 50 per cent. rayon'' whereas it is actually 30 per cent. wool and 70 per cent. rayon staple, how in the world could a wholesaler or retailer be responsible for thaH The man who should be responsible is the man who produces the article. We pointed this out in the debate on the original Act and I have here the actual amendments moved in this Chamber. This reasoning still applies and this Bill will not be effective unless this amendment is included-

'' The onus of proof that the particulaTs contained in the trade description required by this Section to be applied to any goods are not false shall in all cases be on the defendant-''

Then I proceeded to say--'' I have another amendment that would.

have to go in, providing that every manu­facturer of textile products shall keep all(] maintain proper records showing the con· tents as required by the Act,''

, and then I pointed out that he should preserve s:uch record for a period of three years. That is, the starting point.

i I know the position with Tegard to mixtures of rayon and mixtures of wool. I know that evw·y manufacturer keeps these records. A manufacturer producing this fabric, a sample of which I have here, would keep a record of the content of the fibre in that particular material. In this instance it is 50 per cent. fibre and 50 per cent. wool. In this sample it is 54 per cent. rayon, another synthetic, 8 per cent. fibre, another synthetic, and only 38 per cent. wool, but anyone handling this material would think it was wool. This othel' sample is a dress fabric which I defy anyone to tell was not wool. The wholesaler or retailer could not tell, but in it there is .)0 per eent fibre and.-50 per cent. wool.

I know that at ,this stage the Minister is bound but to make this Bill opemte success­fully throughout the State I would ask l1im to study the amendments moved by the opposi­tion in 194A and make every manufacture!' responsible for notifying the wholesaler and retailer, to make him responsible for a notice or declaration that the contents of such and such a inateTial are so and so. We can then pin the manufacturer down. It might be against my own interests because I am interested in manufacture but my suggestion is the only fair method otherwise the retailer and wholesaler will be placed in an invidious position.

Mr. Brand: It is the honest way.

Mr. PIE: It is the honest way. As the Minister knows, it is the dishonest manufac­turer who is undermining the honest indus­trialist today. He is the ·one who must be controlled. A heavy penalty should be imposed on a manufacturer who makes a wrongful declaration. I ask the Minister to make certain that the Bill contains the amend­ment we proposed in 1944 when the original Act was under discussion-

'' After line 22 insert new sub-clause as follows:-

' Every manufacturer of wool products shall keep and maintain proper records showing the fibre contents as required by this Act of all wool products made by him and shall preserve such records for a period of at least three years. ' ' '

That is very important.

Itlr. Burrows: How would that affect overseas or inter-state manufactuTers ~

Itlr. PIE: People shipping textiles from Great Britain to Australia would have to label them. They would be the Tesponsible parties. Australia today, from the point of view of the manufacturer of woollen textiles particu­larly, is growing tremendously. I mean that in Australia we are getting to the stage at which we shall not have to import very much woollen material from overseas. Previously

H86 Trade Desm·iptions, &c., [ASSEMBLY.] Act Amendment Bill.

we had only our own domestic markets, and it did not pay manufacturers to set up looms and machines to cater for high-grade trade.

'roday, however, Yarra Falls a'nd other hig manufacturers throughout Australia are work­ing up a tremendous export trade, which gives them volume in the better end of the trade. Actually Yarra Falls ha's shipped high-class worsteds· to Great Britain and they have come back to Australia in English suits. Yarra Falls and others a·re sl1ipping tropical worsteds overseas to Am_erica and other parts of the world, because we in Australia can do the job.

The reason why Austr_alian manufacturers did not manufacture high-quality goods pre­viously was that the volume of trade in Australia was in mediums and cheap lines an;l we had therefore to produce these products. c'i' ow we nre getting into the export trade it is a different story. Now that we are getting a high quality market hon. members can rest assured that in the years to come the woollen manufacturers of Australia will produce woollen goods unequalled by any­thing produced in any other part of the world because we have the export market and the automatic pla'nt an~ machinery, which Great Britain has not got in many cases.

IUr. Jones: How would you get over the point you raised a moment ago in connec­tion with imported materials if you had to go to the manufacturer~ It might be an F.nglish company a'nd you would have no ehnnce of reaching it.

~Ir. PIE: Anything that is bought from Britain today, materials in particular is accompanied by an invoice and on the bottom of that invoice there mus't be a description of its contents. The same thing applies in America·. That is a condition of export trade anywhere. There would be no difficulty in that direction because the British manu­facturers always give on their invoices a description of the contents of their materials. I have the rules and reg-ulations under the Wool ProductS' Labelling Act of America, and they provide for that very thing. They give an ('Xample such as, '' 60 per cent. wool, 41 per cent. re-used wool, exclusive of ornamenta­tion,'' and then name the distributors. 1 will let the Minister have this later because I think he could give constructive thought to the conference if he p~rused it. ·

I feel certain that the Bill will be hard to implement in its present form. We do not want a repetition of the present proceedings, in which we are amending an Act tha't was passed in 1944 and has never been imple­mented. ~We do not wa11t to be made fools of. We in Australia, those of us who are interested in wool in particular, are vitally interested in the Bill. Shortly we shall be using 750,000 lb. of wool in Queens­land in my industry each year or 15,000 lb. a week. Even if we have a surplus from the 750,000 lb. we can sell any­thing in the way of extra yarn to America tomorrow. As a matter of fact, one of my directors was in America six months ago and we sold products ma'nufactured in Queens­land to America but we had to put on them

a description of the contents. We branded them, ''Made of pure Australian Merino ~Wool.'' It is remarkable and interesting to note that the Americans are using that as a strong selling point. When advertising the manufactured garments they include in the advertisment, ''Manufactured from pure Australian Merino Wool,'' and it has been proving a strong selling point. We want to build on that.

It is interesting to note how much the woollen industry means to Australia. l<'or example, in pre-war years wool produced over seven times the overseas· funds provided by all our manufacturing industries. The people in general do not realise what the woollen industry means to this country.

As a matter of fact, Australia produces 65 per cent. of the world's apparel wool and t\;) per cent. of the higher-quality wool.

\Ye have eeTtainly been threatened in the woollen industry by rayon goods in the seven years, 1934 to 1940. The production of rayon staple increased in production from 53,000,000 !h. to 1,350,000,000 lb., which gives you an idea as to how the rayon-staple industry is growing. I believe that many people hold the view that synthetic rayon is a threat to oll'r great woollen industry. I say that it is not; it will help to sell our woollen goods. It was proved in Germany and Russia that substitutes for wool, particularly in cold "·rather, were not satisfactory. In the final \\·cave, too, it gives us another market for om wool. \Ve could not sell it all if our market was confined to pure-wool lines, but by mixing it with the rayon staple we get an added market for our wool. It is nclmowledged now that wool has such great natnrnl properties that synthetics can really ncnur knock it off the market. We believe that the woollen industry instead of going down, will continue to grow, and I therefore point out how important it is for our great primary idustries to work hand in hand with the secondwry industries. We cannot be only the greatest woollen producers in the world; we must be also the greatest industrial manu­facturers of wool in an industry built round our great natuTal resources. We can employ thousands and thousands of Australians and bring thousands and thousands of immigrants from Bradford and Leicester for employment here. T·hat is the way Australia must develop. We will have a good look at this amending Bill when it comes befo,re us, and I say that if the amendments I suggest are not inrluded in it, the Bill will not be a workable one. I suggest therefore that the Minister ronsider accepting the amendments and that he recommend them to the commit­tees in the South so that the Bill when imple­mented on an all-Australia basis will ensure that we are not made fools of.

'l'here is anothBr point that should be con­sidered by the Minister, and I hope he will consider it. A few of the manufacturers of Australian wool are spinning what we call ''dead'' wool-re-spun wool. It comes from a collection of waste fabrics, which are put through a garneting machine and spun into what we call dead wool. We want to be certain that the 're-spun wool is not labelled pure

Trade Descriptions, &c., [19 NovEMBER.] Act Amendment Bill. 1487

IYool, as it has been labelled in the past. It is really shoddy, although it has not been <·ailed shoddy. Before the war, goods were >old in Brisbane labelled pure wool that were manufacturBd from all sorts of bits and picecs and cuttings picked up from various mnnufactU'rers, garneted together, and re­spun. It was sold in Brisbane as pure wool.

'~r. ~Iacdonald: It is not dead wool.

Mr. PIE: It is shoddy wool.

Mr • .Macdonald: Dead wool never lives.

M:r. PIE : This should not live and that is how near it is to being dead. We do not >mnt to bring in a la belling Bill to allow that sort of thing because it is only misleading the public. In the re-spinning it is run through grease in machines; the smell is ter­rifie, and when these goods are stored on shelves you ran see the grease seeping through the packages. Yet this is labelled and sold :1s pure wool!

Mr. Jones: Dead wool is wool taken from sheep t·hat are found dead.

Jir. PIE: That is not the wool I mean; this is re-processed wool.

1lir. Collins: That would be a better name.

Mr. PIE: We have called it dead wool in the trade for years. That means that it has been used before. It has no spring, heeause it has been double-spun.

T want the Minister to have regard to these important matters and I am prepared to give him any information that he may require because we manufacture•rs in Australia want i<' protect our great woollen industry from ,·,·rtaiu people who are now coming into this <·Lcmtry and will use any methods at all to 11ndermine this great industry.

JI:r. Macdonald: So long as a sheep lives tlle wool never dies.

Mr. PIE: The l1on. member is quite right. I stand corrected but the term we use in the trade is '' dea·d wool,'' meaning that it has been used once already. We want to be certain that that type of wool eannot be la belie-d pure wool, as it has been in the past. During the debate on the Principal Act about three years ago we wenn very thoroughly into the matter and I do not propose to cover the ground again but there is much to be ,.;ained f•rom a debate from a practical vie\Y­point. I should like the Minister to give c-onsideration to the matter from the Queens­land angle, ascertaining the views of the (~ueensland manufacturers, and so I suggest that before he attends this Commonwealth conference in the South he call a conference of representatives of the Ipswich Woollen :\[ills, t·he Queensland Woollen Mills, my own eompany, and two o•r three other wool manu· f~1 cturers, together with the unions concerned, who know that the practice is going on. We shall be able to put before him a case that "·ill enable him to protect the legitimate wool n nd worsted manufacturers in Aush-alia. They

must be protected. Australia has a wonder­ful future in the manufacture of wool and we must see that our goods are of the highest standard.

\Ve shall have to watch our exuort trade, too, because some countries do 'not insist that the contents be stamped on the material or fabric. \Ve shall have to meet the situa· tion t·hat may arise in the export trade in competition with a country like Malaya, for instance, which does not insist that goods shall be labelled with their contents. Those goods may come into this country unlabelled and enter into competition with our woollen goods labelled ''Pure wool'' and it would be -difficult for the people to distinguish between them. Some consideration will have to be given to this aspect of the matter, so that the Australian manufacturer will be on an equitable basis with other countries in the export trade.

Those are just a few points that I should like to make at this stage but I want to assure the Minister that eve-ry legitimate manufacturer in Australia wants to see the Bill introduced at the earliest opportunity, but we are anxious that it should be laid down on a practical basis, and that we shall not find that it will not work and will have to he amended later on.

llir. NICKLIN (lVIurrumba-Leader of the Opposition) (11.43 a.m.): I am sure than all hon. members must have been rather sur­prised to hear the Minister say that the Act passed in 1944 hacl not yet been proclaimed and that it was still a piece of dead legis­latioll.

Mr. Jones: That applies to all the other Stares as well-none of the other States has proclaimd it either.

lUr. NICKLIN: I understand that. It was understood that the Bill considered in 1944 was to be a uniform measure and that complementary measures were to be passed by all the other States of Australia but ai;parently the other States have not gone as far as Queensland has. After all, it is not unique that it should take so long to place such a measure on the statuw book, because it took 25 years of hard battling to pass an equivalent measure in the United States of America, because of the fact that so many interests were involved. Thev fought the legislation very strenuously there and it took 2;3 years before a Wool Labelling Act, the equivalent of this Bill, was placed on their statute book.

I am sure that all hon. members will agree that the Bill is Tequvred, because it serves a threefold purpose-it will protect the wool­producer, the manufacturer, and the general public against fraudulent misrepresentation of textile products.

The Bill will protect both the wool pro­ducer and vy-ool manufacturer against unfair competition from imitation and synthetic products. Some protection should be afforded to the purchaser alS'o, particularly as he does so much to build up the industry through the home mal!ket. When we realise the value of the wool industry to this State and

1488 Trade Desc1·iptions, &c., [ASSEMBLY.] Act Amendment Bill.

the Commonwealth, we recognise that some­thing must be done to protect everybody interested in the wool industry in this State. The wool industry in Australia is worth almost £100 million.

As· the hon. member for Windsor ha's sug­gested, we are building up round our wool industry today a big manufacturing industry, a manufacturing industry that is competing on the markets of the world.

Mr. Marriott: On the black-market too.

:illr. NICKLIN: We know that our woollen manufactures are appreciated in other countries of the world.

I want to say something about the propor­tion of our woollen manufactures that are being exported at the present tiJ_Ue. 'l'he manufacturers seem to forget that It was the Australian public that has built U}> theu trade.

Mr. Marriott: Hear, hear!

Mr. NICKLIN: The Australian public enabled the woollen manufacturers to rlGvelop to the stage they have reached today. What do we find~ That the Australian public are getting a raw deal from thH woollen manu­facturers in Australia, in that we are merely getting the left-ovei·s. The best of our woollen products are going overseas to a higher price market than our own. It is questionable who is to blame for this state of affa:irs, whether it is our price-fixing authorities, who usually make a bung~e of anything they tackle and thus compel the manufacturers to sell their products to the detriment of the

. Australian market, or the fact that better ma'rkets are offering elsewhere. The Austra­lian manufacturers can turn out products equal to the best in the world. They should give a fairer deal to the Australian public than we are getting at the present time, and so allow us to get a decent suit of clothes, instead of being compelled to buy the second­cla'ss stuff that is now offered for sale. It is just absurd to see on sale in our tailors' and other shops in this city the heavy materials .that are being foisted on the public, when it is well-known in the trade that what we require here is a light-weight woollen material, not the heavy blanket-like material that is being sold to us. We know that the light­weight mate;rJal we !Should be getting is going overseas at higher prices than can be obtained on the Australian market, although goodness knows the prices we are compelled to pay for our suits should give the manu­facturers ample return on this market.

What I am concerned about in this legisia­tion is just how much of the original Act is going to be amended, and whether some of the original provisions are going to be elimin­ated, particularly the definitions to which we agreed in the Committee stage concerning re­processed wool, re-used wool and virgin wool. The point made by the hon. member for Windsor is• a very important one, particularly in regard to the re-use of wool, that is, re­processed wool. I hope that it is not the intention of the Minister in this Bill to inter­fere with the definitions we placed in the original Act, and the provisions that no trade

descriptions shall contain the words '' arti­ficial wool,'' ''imitation wool,'' ''synthetic wool '' ''substitute wool'' &c., or any other expr~ssion which includes the word ''wool'' in relation to any substance that is not wool.

After all, the obje~t of the measure is to protect the woollen mdustry and the_ wool­growers of this State. Wh~n we reahse the importance of the woollen mdustry and the growing importance of the woollen manu­facturing industry in this St~te, all hon. members will agree that there IS a need for legislation of this kind. I commend ~o the Minister as did the member for Wmdsor, the ame~dments moved by the Opposition in the Committee stage in 1944, which unfor­tunately were refused by the Minister. I refer in particular to the amendments that place the onus on all sections connected with the trade to see that the labelling of these goods is correct-not only the wholesaler and retailer but also the manufacturer-because, as the member for Windsor demonstrated with samples he showed us today and samples he showed us clmiing the debate on 'the original Bill, it is impossible for a ~ayman and almost impossible for an expert _m tex­tiles to determine whether those textiles are or are not laro-ely comprised of wool. After all it would be no hardship on the manu­fa~turer for us to insist that he also shall label his goods and stand up to that l~belling in the same way that we are compellmg the wholesaler and the retailer to do.

Mr. Pie: The honest manufacturer wants to do that.

Itlr. NICKLIN: I am sure that is so too . After all, the genuine and honest manu­facturer is as much concerned about the cor­rcct labelling of the goods as anybody. He suffers as much as the general public from the action of persons who try to contravene the regulations.

ltlr. Jones: How would you get at the manufacturer in the· East~ That is a point that is worrying me.

Mr. NICKLIN: It is difficult, but we must not forget that we have ce~·tain custo~s regu­lations and customs duties vary With the proportion of the fibres or mater~als these goods may contain. The bi~ majo~Ity of our textiles come from the Umted Kmgdom or the United States of America. The United States of America have a Wool Labelling Act in operation that compels their manufacturers to label those goods. In the United Kingdom, as the hon. member for Windsor has told us, the manufacturers do state the proportion of the various materials in these goods. Then we come to the East and other places where possibly there may be some difficulty. I suggest that if it was known that these conditions had to be complied with before those goods came to Australia, if the manu­facturers valued the Australian trade they would naturally comply with our regulations. H would not be difficult to determine by expert test whether those goods contained a certain percentage of wool or not.

Mr. Pie interjected

T1·ade Descriptions, &c., [19 NovEMBER.] Act Amendment Bill. 1489

Mr. :N.ICKLIN: The Minister said that some of the manufacturers in the East may not label their goods. In order to enable the customs officers to arrive at the duty payable on those goods the manufacturer would have to make some statement in regard to the contents of the material. We could get over it that way, To protect the honest wholesaler and retaile: it is essential that some onus will have to be borne by the manufacturer. The difficulties of putting the onus on the man11facturers are not insuperable and can be overcome b-r the amendments that were rejected in · the Committee stages of the original Bill.

I am sure all hon. members agree >Yith the principles behind this legislation. However, we will await with interest the amending Bill and see exactly what it contains, and I can assure the Minister that we will do every­thing possible to help to tighten up the law that deals with this very important industry en which Queensland depends so much.

::Wr. BURROWS (Port Curtis) (11.56 n.m.): It would appear that the State Government ha\'e no control over manufac­turers outside the State; by that I mea.n no direct control. The placing of a direct o bli­gation on the manufacturers would affect only those in the State.

Mr, Brand: We want to make the legisla­tion uniform.

Mr. BURROWS: Assuming it is uniform legislation throughout the Commonwealth, there is still the overseas manufacturer, and I am sure from the information placed before me when this matter has been discussed that everybody has the one desire in respect to this Bill. I am certain that suggestions made for improving the Bill will be appreciated by the Minister in charge. In the discussions or. this matter it appeared that the only way to get at the unscrupulous overseas manu­facturer, was indirectly through the retailer, by putting the onus on the retailer not to buy from any but honest manufacturers. He could protect himself by insisting on an indemnity if the goods were not up to descrip­tion.

l\Ir. Wanstall: Could not the Common­wealth do that through their import licences~

Mr. BURROWS: The Leader of the Opposition mentioned that to get certain goods through the Customs it is necessary to make a declaration, but I am sure when he examines that procedure in detail he will find that a declaration is not sufficient. They can generalise, but this proposal, I under­stand, would be to have a detailed declaration on any garment or article. The Bill as I understand it is for the protection of the honest manufacturer and in an endeavour to ensure that the woollen industry from the primary stage to the finished article gets the fullest protection.

Mr. MARRIOTT (Bulimba) (11.59 a.m.): I certainly welcome the Bill, but it is unfortunate that we as a State are not able to go still further. Listening to the hon.

member for Windsor and the Minister, I gathered that the purpose of the Bill is really to protect the wool-growers against competi­tion from synthetic fibres.

Mr. Pie: To protect the buying public.

Mr. MARRIOTT: We 'will deal with that ioo. The major object of the Bill is to protect the wool-growers from any onslaught by synthetic fibres. That has always been a problem to them.

I was pleased to hear the remarks of the Leader of th~ Opposition when he dealt with the raw deal that the public of Australia have been getting from the manufacturer for a period of years. It is a pity that we were not able to do something to ensure that the wool-wearing public of Australia were better served.

During the >mr it was impossible to buy suitings. We were told that the woollen mills were fully occupied in supplying cloth for the services, and they supplied a very fine cloth too. Despite the statements of the ho11. member for ~Windsor, I say that prior to the war the Australian manufacturers could, if they so desired, compete with the world in the manufacture of worsted suitings, and they did, to some extent. Since the war has t:'nded and there has been no further need for the woollen factories to supply the Army, Navy and Air Force, the public of Australia have not had their position improved. Only 12 months ago, when I wanted a suit-length, my tailor took me to the Yarious warehouses in Brisbane and we saw absolutely empty shelves. We knew the southern factories that manufactured suit-lengths were working at high pressure, but we were told that they were not working because they could not get labour. We find from the debates in the Federal Parliament that what we knew privately to be going on was correct, that large quantities of men's suitings were being exported over­seas. Substantial quantities went to New Zealand. The best of suitings were going overseas to England and to the black-markets of Hong Kong and Singapore. People who visited those places told me on their return that it is the easiest thing in the world to pick up suit-lengths, that the shops in Hong Kong and Singapore are full of them.

Questions have been asked frequently in the Federal Parliament as to what quantity of worsted suitings has been sent overseas. Of course, permits have to be issued for that export, and I should like to quote from Federal '' Hansard'' the quantity that was exported in a given period. !'- question asked in the House of RepresentatiVes was-

'' How many square yards of woollen piece goods were exported from Australia during the 12 months ended 31 December, 1946F'

The answer was-'' 6,864,367 square yards, valued at

£2,494,724.'' I suppose that was based on the Australian price. It possibly brought considerably more than that when it was sold overseas.

1490 Trade Descriptions, &c., [ASSEMBLY.] Act Amendment Bill.

Another question asked was-'' How many suit lengths were represented

in this total~''

The answer was that details were not avail­able, but ~hat worsted suitings were exported to the eqmvalent of 87,200 suit-lengths during 1946.

The CHAIRlUAN: Order! The hon. member is getting away from the matter before the Committee. \V e are dealing with the branding of textiles.

;llr. ItL\RR.IOTT: The question was raised in the Federal House about the quality of the goods being exported bee a use very heavy quantities had been exported to Russia. It was contended that the quality of the cloth did not matter very much, but the members 1\·ho were debating the question argued that it did matter, just as hon. members opposite haYe argned toda~·. \Ve should keep up our quality for export but the Australian public should receive value for their money, they should get the best of the suitings. At the present time the average tailor receives one good-quality suit-length in five.

The CHAIRMAN: There is no provision for that in this Bill.

Mr. MARRIOTT: I am arguing that the Minister should, if possible, deal with his colleagues in the South to see that manufac­tmers do put the full quantity of best-quality wool in worsted suit-lengths. At the present time the highest-quality stuff is sent overseas, brought back from England in the form of ready-made suits, and soH here at 25 guineas. I have a sample of the material here.

If you could get this quality of material here you could buy a suit at £15 or £16. On the contrary, your tailor gets only one good suit-length out of five and he does not get this class of stuff in that one suit-length. He gets four suit-lengths' of what we call duds­of double-warp and single-weft. In that class of material there is 25 per cent. less wool in a suit-length than there should be. I hope this class of material is labelled, too.

1\Ir. Pie interjected.

Mr. MARRIOTT: We want the Common­wealth Government stirred up to see that the people get a fair deal. Too long have we suffered. ThiS' good stuff is being sent over­seas and if, say, the Prices Commissioner fixes the worsted at £1 a yard in, Australia­for the sake of giving it a price-the price overseas is not fixed. The manufacturers are given an '' open go''; they can send it overseaS' and get what price they like for it. That is what prompted me to interject that on the black-mnrket it is fetching £2 10s. I urge upon the Minister the need for seeing whether something cannot be done to ensure that the people of Australia get good material and not the rubbish that is being sent here. As I said, the best of our suit-lengths are being exported overseas. When the Minister goes South and has further conferences he

should see that the manufacturers o:' woollen goods state whether the material is double­warp and single-weft, or fully woven. With this sho·ddy stuff your suit goes threadbare before you have it any reasonable dme.

1\Ir. AIKENS (Mundingburra) l12.7 p.m.l: The hon. member for Bulimba touched on a particularly important point anc I have no intention of belabouring it. When you go into a tailor's shop today to order a suit you have to trust to your tailor's honesty. Most of the tailors with whom I have had dealings have been honest enough to tell me that much of the cloth that is marked up at a certain price is not worth buying and they tell me how much of the stuff that comes onto their shelves is not fit to clothe an aboriginal-not that 1 would suggest that an aboriginal should be clothed any worse than I or anybody else. This problem can be solved by the collabora­tion between State departments and the Commonwealth department responsible for the export of huge quantities of good suit-lengths overseas. I produced in this OJ.amber evidence that the Ipswich woolle11 millS' had refused to manufacture flannel for workers' shirts and singlets because they did not get what they thought the proper price for it. They con­verted all construction in Ipswich to the manufacture of worsteds, and they have joined in the racket of supplying the Australian public with shoddy materials and sending the best overseas·.

I think that this Bill-if it does not already contain one-should contain a pro­vision that the constituents of a particular cloth shall be clearly marked on the cloth itself and that the country of origin should be clea·rly marked on the cloth also. We know that at the pre11ent time many people are only too eager to import huge quantities of Japan­ese textiles into this country. Long ago I adopted a: one-man boycott so far as my own home was concerned in the use of Japanese goods. We know that if a particular article is wholly manufactured in Japan it will bear the ''Made in Japan'' trademark but if big consignments of Japanese textiles come here in the roll they will only bear at the end of the roll the'' Made in Japan'' trademark. The unscrupulous manufacturer 1¥ill cut off the brand "Made in Japan" and make the rest of the roll up into shirts and singlets or under­pants or any other article and pass them off as of good Australian manufacture or British or U.S.A. manufacture.

The Bill should contain a provision that every article of wearing apparel and every article at all made from material that comes from Japan or any of the other enemy countries shoul·d be clearly branded with the country of origin. I went into a town shop the other day and bought the shirt I am wear­ing. It is branded with the name of the firm from which I bought it, but there is nothing on it to show where the material came from. For all I know the material in this shirt may have come recently from Japan. ·

Mr. Pie: That is not wool.

Trade Descriptions, &c., Bill. [19 NoVEMBER.] Sugar Experiment, &c., Amd. Bill. 1491

Mr. AIKENS: I am not concerned with what it is. For all I know it might be Birk­myre. I am not as well up in the constituents and quality of clothing as the hon. member for Windsor is.

~~e CHAIRI\'IAN: Order! When the ~1mister moved the motion he explained that it was a Bill to compel manufacturers to stamp material with its wool content.

Mr. AIKEN.S: I am assuming, and I think I am correct m my assumption that the Bill will control not only woollen 'goods but all textiles of which wool forms any part, no m:;t~er how small the percentage. The Mimster nods agreement. If the shirt I am wearing contains only 5 per cent. of wool then it will come under the Bill, and I hav~ no knowledge that the shirt does not contain 5 P.er cent. of v~ool. I think also that every article of wearmg apparel should be very clearly branded in order to indicate to the purchaser the actual per~entage of wool, rayon, eotton and so on contamed in it and that it should also be branded with the country of origin of the material.

This State should take the iirst step also to see that a standard size is observed by all textile manufacturers in this State. We can s~art that iight right here. You know the diffic_ulty, Mr. Mann. You are a big man physically, and so is the hon. member for Mirani and the hon. member for Warwick and. I w.ould .([~scribe myself as being of medmm Size physically. I iind that the tailors in Brisbane, or at least those tailors in the main streets of Brisbane, cater only for the dwarfs and the runts. When you go into a tailor's shop in Brisbane city and ask him to make yo~ a sports coat, as I did recently, some of the tailors-and some of the most prominent tailors too-will look at you with a jaundiced eye and say, ''Oh, we haven't got a coat length to iit you,'' and I replied, ''I wonder what you would do with Johnno Mann or Otto Madsen or Ernie Evans when you cannot I.nake a coat to iit me.'' I had to go out almost mto the country to get a tailor to make the sports coat that I wear today, because appar­ently no tailor in the city of Brisbane carries a sufficient coat length to make a coat to iit me, . and ~' physically speaking, am only of medmm size. How they would get on with the really big men in the community I do not know. The tailors today cater only for the dwarfs and the runts-that is, the big city tailors-so I suggest also that the Government take the iirst step in iixing a standard size for other articles of wearing apparel. I men­tioned before in this Chamber that I take a size-7 shirt.

The CHAIRMAN: Order! I think I have allowed the hon. member a good deal of lati­tude. He is getting away from the subject before the Committee.

Mr. AIKENS: I thought I had kept my feet pretty well in the narrow rut, Mr. Mann, but in view of your ruling I will leave the matter at that.

Motion (Mr. Jones) agreed to.

Resolution reported.

FIRST READING.

Bill presented and, on motion of Mr. Jones, read a iirst time.

S1JGAR EXPERLMEN'l' S~'ATIO::'\S ACTS AMENDMENT BILL.

SECOND READING.

Hon. H. H. COLLINS (Cook-Secretary for AgTiculture and Stock) (12.16 p.m.): I move--

''That the Bill be now ITad a second time.''

This is only a very small Bill and there is ~·eally not .much in it, al~hough it is very Important from the sugar mtcrests' point of view. As time goes on, and as the sugar industry expands, particularly because of the more highly technical knowledge that we have today, >YO arc finding that "\Ye need more money to spend on our sugar experiment stations. The Bill is intended to increase the amount of money available for those stations and it is proposed to increase the current levy on sugar crushed at the mills from Id. a ton to 3d. The levy is paid by the sugar-growers and the sugar mills in equal proportions. These two bodies pay for carrying on the work of sugar experiment stations, with a contri­bution of £7,000 a year made by the Government.

It will be appreciated that the growers iind a considerable amount of money for this work when I inform hon. members that for 1947-1948 the total expenditure on the work of the Bmeau of Sugar Experiment Stations will possibly be £49,000. The policy of the bureau is determined by the Sugar Advisory Board which is composed of four representatives of the industry and two Government representa­tives. Of recent years increasing demands have emanated from the industry for the services of technologists. In consequence, the current year's expenditure will be much in excess of the revenue. That is partly due to the fact that dming the past two years the total output of sugar has been down. It must be remembered that the levy is made on the output of sugar and the output was down last year. That was caused to a great extent by drought conditions but other conditions, particularly those incidental to the recent war which caused a shortage of labour, conduced to the shortage. Yet the work of the bureau must not only go on but must be expanded generally.

The industry is to be congratulated on the excellent experimental work it has done from 1940 onwards.

Prior to the 1914-18 war t·he Common­wealth Government adopted a policy of expanding the sugar industry, and in the years 1920 to 1922 the price of raw sugaT was £30 6s. Sd. a ton and the average pro­duction of sugar was 2.1 tons an acre. From 1922 onwards the price of sugaT to the grower has fallen considerably. As a result of science and the application of common sense to the industry it itself has met the

1492 Suga1· Experiment Stations [ASSEMBLY.] Acts Amendment Bill.

<·hallenge to reducing prices in a highly com­mendable way. Instead of bemoaning its fatD of shrinking prices it has expanded the industry and improved its economy, with the result t·hat although for the three seasons prc<:eding the last war-1937 to 1939-the a-verage price of sugar dropped to £15 Ss. a ton or very little more than half the amount received in 1922, increased technical efficiency in the field and factory raised the production of sugar-cane per acre from 2.1 tons to 3.2 tons, or an increase of more than 50 per t·ent., and in 1939 the production per acre amounted to 3.42 tons to thE\ acre, or more than 60 per cent. above the 1920-22 average.

T·hat is the way the sugar industry met the falling prices of suga·r; although prices fell by nearly 50 per cent. it increased produc­tion per acre by over 50 per cent. When an industry is doing like that, naturally we desire to give it every possible help to inc•rease its experimental work and t·o improve its standard of efficiency.

I am pleased to know, too, that thD mill at Nambour has done particularly good work in providing a new subsidiary industry to the sugar industry, that is, the manufacturing of wax from suga~· cane.

'l'he development of varieties of cane has lJeen of tremendous advantage to the indus­try. Upwards of 20,000 seedling canes are received each year from the three experi­mental zones that we have in Queensland. Of these 20,000 seedlings only one or two may be worth persevering with, but from one or two we have in the past developed entirely improved varieties of cane that are largely responsible for the big increase in the pro­duction of sugar cane per ac•re. The sugar industry is desirous of continuing that work. Plant-breeders, whose work is highly skilled, have done a mighty job, and it is essential that we have sufficient money to continue it.

There are other problems in connection with our canes, such as their resistance to 11iscase. A variety that may be resistant in the Babinda and Mossman areas may be ~usceptible to disease if grown in · the southern areas of Bundaberg or Nambour. We arB breeding canes now that are suitable for the district in which they are bred.

The sugar industry, improved to the extent it has been, and distributing as it does more of its total returns among the working com­munity the men engaged in the industry and the towns where it is situate-d, than any other industry, is a particularly fine industry and very useful to the State of Queensland. By reason of the policy I have described we have not only made Australia self-sufficient so far as sugar is concerned but also a big exporter during the period of very high prices that ruled during the war, and we have been able also to expand our jam and processed­fruit industries because we ha-d access in our own country to the necessary quantity of sugar. That is very important. In addition, the brewing business, which is a large user of sugar, has been extended very greatly. Canneries, which amongst other things can

pineapple juice and other tropical fruit, are also very big users of sugar. Having access to plentiful supplies has made it possible for these subsidiary industries to expand, and we desire to continue that expansion. As it stands at present, I am informed that during the next few years there will be an increasing market in Australia for approximately 6,000 tons of sugar a year. That is very important to Queensland inasmuch as it is only a matter of six years when 36,000 tons of extra sugar will be required. If this increase in con­sumption is maintaine-d for six years there will really be room for another sugar mill in Queensland. On the other hand, if we can maintain the overseas prices for sugar obtain­ing at present, there is no reason that I can see, provided we can obtain the necessary man­power during the next few years and can place substantial long-term contracts with the British Government, why we should not be able to expand our sugar industry substan­tially. That is very desirable.

Having all these matters in mind, Mr. Speaker, I am asking Parliament to amend the Sugar Experiment Stations Act in certain particulars and these particulars are for the purpose of increasing the amount of levy made in respect of the maintenance of the sugar industry.

J.Ur. BRAND (Isis) (12.29 p.m.): I agree with the Minister that this is in fact a very small Bill, but a very large one in character. It deals with a very important section of the Department of Agriculture and Stock, the very important Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations. The Act provi-des for a bureau con­sisting of men who are all specialists, special­ists in sugar-cane growing, sugar manufacture and technology. They are also advisers to the cane-growers, the sugar rnills, and the Minister in charge of the department.

I hope the new Secretary for Agriculture and Stock will be advised by those officers. We in the industry have claimed for many years that it is very important to the welfare of the industry that the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations should be strong and healthy and staffed by highly trained men who know their jobs and whose main purpose in life is to help the sugar industry. The State owes a duty not only to itself but also to the public of Australia to see to it that everything possible is done to enable sugar to be produced economically at the cheapest possible rate.

Since 1939 the industry has passed through troublous times. The bureau has endeavoured at all times to assist in every possible way to make the lot of the sugar-producer easier and to make it possible for both the grower and miller to enjoy the ordinary comforts of life which is all the industry is asking. Although the sugar industry in Queensland is paying the highest wages paid by any cane­sugar industry in the world it has been able to compete on the world's market with suc­cess because of the special agreement that has operated between the Commonwealth and the States throughout the years.

Sugar Experiment Stations [19 NovEMBER.] Acts Amendment Bill. 1493

The officers of the bmeau have been keen, not only in matters affecting the technology of canB-growing ancil sugar manufacturing but also in the maintenance of a satisfactory agreement between the Commonwealth and States. The industry has recognised at all times that these bureau officers can be of great help in preparing a case for submission to the Commonwealth Government and I thank the Minister for expressing appreciation of the splendid way in which the sugar industry pre­pared the case that was submitted to the Prime Minister recently for an increase in price.

The Minister has admitted this morning that the sugar industry is entitled to a fair and reasonable price. He admits that if it is to prosper and be able to pay the increased levy of 3d., which is to be divided equally between the grower and the miller, it must have a fair and reasonablB price.

vVe lwpe that the amount of money the industry returns to the State will prompt the Minister to recognise, as he has this morning, the very important work the officers of the Bureau have to undertake. I some­times wonder whether Ministers in charge of the Department of Agriculture and Stock take the fullest advantage of advice given to them by these special men. I was surprised to learn from the Minister that he was not aware of how the sugar case was prepared for submission to the Commonwealth Govern­ment. His officers could easily have informed him that the ease was prepared by a special committee of the industry, the principals of which were Mr. E. T. S. Pearce, Mr. Hunter Freeman, and Mr. R. Muir. The Minister certainly did recognise one of those gentle­men. The sugar industry on the other hand has always recognised the principle that officers of his department should be consulted on matters of importance to it and has received from the officers of the bureau advice in preparing a case for the industry. I know that the industry drew on the services of Mr. Behne and Mr. Bell in the preparation of the case for presentation to the Common­wealth Government, which turned out to be of great advantage to this State.

Might I say to the Minister that I hope no mischievous statements will be made in connection with the sugar industry, and that we shall not try to divide it but will be unanimous in seeing that at this time in the world's history the sYgar industry of Queens­land is held solidly together and is not allowed to break down. Costs are mounting every day-

Mr. SPEAKER: Order! The hon. member is getting outside the simple pro­visions of this Bill.

Mr. BRAND: Tl1e Bill deals with the money aspect, and covers the operations of the Bureau, a body of men who are striving hard to bring about, as the Minister rightly said this morning, better varieties of cane for production, more economical manufacture, and greater efficiency in the mills. The Min­ister is aware that during the war years the high efficiency of our Queensland mills

slipped, and I think the bmeau can tell him that it has slipped some two units, because c-f the difficulties of man-power and material shortages and the inability to get high crush­ing rates. That reduction in the eo-efficiency of the sugar mills is a serious one, and I hope the Minister might be able to agree to the industry's request that officers of the bureau shall be encouraged to remain with the bureau by obtaining for them salaries in keeping with the qualifications and the amount of money spent outside the service.

Mr. SPEAKER: Order!

Mr. BRAND: Might I say that these officers are concerned in the increase in the money to be provided by this Bill. In fact, it is introduced for no other purpose. The sugar industry welcomes the Bill. Indeed, it asked the Government through the Sugar Advisory Board to provide for an increase in the levy for the. very purposes I have mentioned and I am sure that the Minister can do much to help the industry by seeing that adequate salaries are paid to the officers concerned, so that their services will be retained for thB industry. Their salaries have been a burning question in the industry for quite a while and the fact that they have been as low as they arB has done incalculable harm to the bureau. I Tepeat that MT. Behne could obtain a position in other parts of the world at a higher salary than he is getting in Queensland and it is only because of his loyalty to the Queensland sugar industry that he remains in this State. If we were to lose the services of this valuable officer, who is a Queenslander, we should find it difficult to replace him. Therefore I trust that in carrying out this legislation and in getting the increased amount that will be available under it the Minister will not forget to recognise the worth of the officers associated with the Sugar Bureau. I hope that the increase in the levy will be the means of paying more adequate salaries to these officers and that it will also mean that more such officers will be attracted to its service. If that is the result of the legislation then not one grower or miller in the State will raise any objection.

Mr. THEODORE (Herbert) (12.43 p.m.) : I do not intend to delay the passage of the Bill by making any irrelevant observations on it, although one could speak on the subject for an hour or more without any trouble and not transgress the Standing Orders. I want. to make a few appropriate remarks concern­ing the measure.

First of all, I want to say that the industry believes the measure to be justified in that it will enable the bureau to continue the very fine job it is doing. Its splendid work has enabled the industry to attain its present sound economic position and its high state of efficiency.

'I'here are good reasons why the increased levy is required and on that point it would be appropriate if I were to quote from the report of the AuditoT-General for the last

1494 Sugar Experiment Stations [ASSEMBLY.] Acts Amendment Bill.

:financial year. He points out that the levy :fer the I946-47 season was at the rate of Id. a ton on 3,7I6,346 tons of cane crushed at 3I mills. The amount received was £I5,484 I4s. Id., in addition to the £7,000 by "ay of endowment paid :from Consolidated :Revenue in accordance with the Act. The expenditure during the same year totalled £I3,75I 3s. 9d., compared 1vith £27,467 for the 1945-46 season.

That reduction has beeD caused, as the :Yfinister pointed out, by a reduced tonnage. It was considerably less last year and it will be considerably reduced again this year as compared with the previous year. That fact, combined with the increased work exacted from the bureau has made its work very much more difficult than it was.

The sugar experiment stations have done a remarkable job since they were established. They have provided the people engaged in the industry a form of protection that it would not otherwise be possible to give them. The iudustry, from Rocky Point in the south to Mossman in the north, has expanded and embraces 31 mills situated along our coast in great variations of climate as well as general conditions. It is because of the work done by the bureau's officers that we have been able to establish in those areas, with their varied climates and soils, varieties of cane suit­able to each. At the same time the bureau has been able to raise varieties of cane that are disease-resistant. ~Without the control exercised by the department serious damage could have been done to the industrY. The bureau's work is recognised by evei·y man engaged in the industry, who are experienced men and have a practical knowledge of the industry. For that reason no-one in the industry will take exception to the increase proposed in the present levy. It will enable the bureau to do better work.

We must expect that the bureau will have much more work to do in the near future. \Ye must see the sugar industry expanded. It is possible, as the Minister has pointed out, to expand it considerably by some arrangement with the International Sugar Bureau for a long-term agreement. Should we be fortunate enough to enter into some arrangement the expansion of the industry will be assured. The industry is one of the hest agricultural industries in Australia and the work of the bureau in the past has pre­served it and placed it in a position to make such an expansion with con:fidence that it will he able to carry out any undertaking it may he called on to give.

The hon. member :for Isis spoke about the work of high officers of the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, and the inadequate salaries they receive. It would be only fair if the hon. member remembered that these gentlemen, whilst doing good work and a great job, were trained in that work by the State Government, who gave them every oppor­tunity to progress in this sphere. I realise that men engaged on important work should he paid adequately, but it must be remembered that the question of what salaries should be

paid is not confined to one department. 'Ne must have regard too to all other officers who are doing equally important work in other departments.

The question arises whether, if you are going to give big salaries to employees in one department you must increase the salaries of all other men holding similar jobs of import­ance. The point the hon. member raises causes the industry some fear that it may lose important officers, but I think it is a matter that will have to be considered in a general way that will have regard to the whole system of salaries and conditions of officers in the public departments.

I support the Minister in bringing down the Bill, and I repeat that I believe the industry will accept it as justified.

l\Ir. AIKENS (Mundingburra) (12.51 p.m.): I do not want to delay the passage of this Bill unduly, but I do suggest to the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock that if the sugar experiment stations do not already deal with the question of soil conservation­! am led to believe they do-they might give this matter some serious consideration.

In July this year I was present at the Ayr sho>Y, which was opened by the Minister, and we were both fortunate in seeing there­separately of course-a display by the Soil Conservation Auxiliary Committee in the Lower Burdekin area, which dealt with the erosion and soil destruction that is taking place in our cane areas throughout the State, and gave some fine exhibits, statistics and figures in regar;l to the matter. There was an erroneous assumption many years ago that all a cane :farmer required soil :for was to stand the cane up in, and he would only need to supply the chemical fertilisers to grow the cane and produce the sugar. Now the cane farmers in the various districts of Queens­land, particularly those in the Lower Burdekin district, have come to see the fallacy of that statement, which nevertheless was made by prominent officials of the Department of Agriculture and Stock over the years. They :find that because of constant ploughing, crop­ping and artificial fertilisation the soil struc­ture is breaking down, and they have pro­duced remarkable examples, statistics and :figures in support of their contentions. They had a very interesting exhibit at the Ayr show, as I have sai;l, and I have here a copy of their report, reprinted in the ''Home Hill Observer" dated 4 July, I947, headed-

"How long can our soils remain pro­duetive~

"Research by Soil Conservation Com­mittee reveals deterioration of soil structure.''

I will not read the whole pamphlet, but I shall be only too pleased to give a copy to any hon member who is really interested in the preservation of our soil and our soil structures, particularly in the cane-growing areas of the State. I was so interested in the exhibit placed there by this committee that I asked them to give me several copies, which I have

Q,uestions. [20 NovEMBER.]

brought down with me. I think it is a matter that is deserving of consideration. It may be that other farmers in other areas are faced with the same problem that confronts the farmers of the Lower Burdekin area, and I feel sure the information contained in this circular will be of benefit to anyone who is interested in the agricultural development of Queensland.

Motion (Mr. Collins) agreed to.

COMMITTEE.

(Mr. Devries, Gregory, in the chair.)

Clauses 1 and 2, as read, agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment.

The House adjourned at 12.57 p.m.

Questions. 1495