Yet on 21 M a y 1947 S e n a t o r C o oper quoted in the Senate a r e port by the S y d n e y D a i l y T e l e g r a p h that A u s t r a l i a n e x p o r t e r s were s e n d i n g ’muck' to S i n g a p o r e and Malaya, g i v i n g A u s t r a l i a a bad reput a t i o n . The report stated that in a c o n sign m e n t of r o l l e d oats sent to Singapore, p u r c h a s e r s could
not find 1 °/o r o l l e d oats and that a n o t h e r consi g n m e n t sent as
’A u s t r a l i a ’s best w o o l l e n s o c k s ’ c o n s i s t e d of army stocks
sewn in pairs, oft e n in d i f f e r e n t sizes. A trade C o m m i s
s ioner could i n v e s t i g a t e p r o b l e m s such as these and report to the A u s t r a l i a n g o v e r n m e n t w h i c h could in turn have the p r o b l e m s solved.
The s i g n i f i c a n c e of a p p o i n t i n g a Tra d e C o m m i s s i o n e r in
S i n g a p o r e lay not only in the r e s o l v i n g of d i f f e r e n c e s and
m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g s ; the office in fact p l a y e d an important role in i n c r e a s i n g A u s t r a l i a ' s exports to Si n g a p o r e and p r o m o t i n g A u s t r a l i a ' s interest in i n v e s t i n g in m a n u f a c t u r i n g and other in d u s t r i e s in Si n g a p o r e and Malaya.
A u s t r a l i a ' s o r g a n i s e d trade p r o m o t i o n in S i n g a p o r e be-
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gan in 1948 w h e n the first S i n g a p o r e Trade F air was held. Here a g a i n the T r a d e C o m m i s s i o n e r p l a y e d the p r i m a r y role in
o r g a n i s i n g A u s t r a l i a ’s exhibits. A u s t r a l i a took part in the e x h i b i t i o n e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y and its p r e s e n t a t i o n was so good that a silver t r ophy was a w a r d e d to A u s t r a l i a by the o r g a n i ser. S u b s e q u e n t l y , A u s t r a l i a took part in the S i n gapore
Trade F a i r every y e a r and w o n the silver t rophy for the
3
sixth c o n s e c u t i v e y e a r in 1 9 5 3»
1. See
W- X
C o o p e r and B. Courtice, M i n i s t e r for Commerceand A g r i c u l t u r e , 21-3-19^7» C .P .D . (S e n a t e ) , vol. 192,
p . 26ll.
2. See The Straits T i m e s , 3-8-1933»
The T r a d e F a i r p r o v i d e d the o p p o r t u n i t y for A u s t r a l i a to i n t r o d u c e n e w p r o d u c t s each y e a r and the local b u s i n e s s men to get to k n o w the range of p r o d u c t s which. A u s t r a l i a could offer. The ran g e of p r o d u c t s e x h i b i t e d by A u s t r a l i a i n c r e a s e d each year. D u r i n g the 1953 T r ade Fair, w h i c h was h eld b e t w e e n A u g u s t 1 and l6 at the H a p p y World, p r o d u c t s from e i g h t y - f i v e A u s t r a l i a n m a n u f a c t u r e r s were d i s p l a y e d at the A u s t r a l i a n P a v i lion. ^ The range of p r o d u c t s was p r o b a b l y the most c o m p r e h e n s i v e ever d i s p l a y e d in an A u s t r a l i a n o verseas e x h i bition. M a r i n e engines, electric rnators, h and tools, k e r o s e n e stoves, p l a s t i c ware, garage equipment, air compres s o r s , p o w e r c h a i n saws w ere some of the m a n u f a c t u r e d items d i splayed. F o o d s t u f f s were d i s p l a y e d on t h i r t y - s e v e n c i r c u l a r stands. O v e r 3 2 0 , 0 0 0 pe o p l e a t t e n d e d the f i f t e e n days Tra d e Fair, w h i c h p e r h a p s was the best p u b l i c i t y for A u s t r a l i a n p r o ducts; and a lot of A u s t r a l i a n goods w ere sold
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and business n e g o t i a t e d d u r i n g the occasion. The u s i n g of
T r a d e Fairs to p r o m o t e A u s t r a l i a ' s export sales to Singapore was very s u c c e s s f u l as could be seen from the m a r l e d i n
creases in A u s t r a l i a ' s exports val u e in Table 3.
A u s t r a l i a di d not, however, take export p r o m o t i o n
s e r i ously be f o r e 1 9 5^+ as there w ere w o r l d - w i d e shortages of
3
p r i m a r y p r o d u c t s and s t r o n g d e m a n d for them until the ear-
1. The Straits T i m e s , 5-8-1953.
2. Ib.i d . ; see also O v e r s e a s T r a d i n g , no. 1, vol. 6, 1953» p .p . 1, 16-7.
3. Abo u t yO°/o of A u s t r a l i a ' s exports consisted of p r i m a r y p r o
ducts, see R.F. Holder, 'Australia's T r ade R e l a t i o n s w i t h the Far East', in G. G r e e n w o o d (e d .) Australian. P o l i c i e s
ly part of the 1950s. The p r o b l e m for A u s t r a l i a was then less how to sell her p r o d u c t s than ho w to d i s t r i b u t e them a m o n g
d i f f e r e n t con s u m i n g - countries. When, the war ended, the i m
m e d i a t e o b j e c t i v e in trade was to relieve dist r e s s and d e v a s tation, and exports from A u s t r a l i a were p r a c t i c a l l y all of a r e l i e f na t u r e t h r o u g h U N R R A or v a r i o u s d i s p o s a l s schemes, W h e n acute s h o rtages were d i s a p p e a r i n g towards 1950, A u s t r a
lian p r o d u c t s were still a s s u r e d of a m a r k e t in B r i tain and
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E u r o p e a n countries. A u s t r a l i a net only had no p r o b l e m s in
s e l l i n g her go o d s , s h e could also d emand h i g h prices for them. It t h e refore e n j oyed a most fa v o u r a b l e b a l a n c e of trade d u r i n g this period.
A u s t r a l i a ' s f a v o u r a b l e ba l a n c e of trade r e a ched a re- -the.
cord of about £238 m i l l i o n at the close of^financial y e a r on 3
30 June 1951« H o w e v e r the b a l a n c e of trade slumped to a
rec o r d a d v e r s e b a l a n c e of about £378 m i l l i o n in 1 9 5 1 - 5 2 >du( 4
m a i n l y to the enormous flo o d of imports as a c o n s e q u e n c e
of the record exports of the p r e v i o u s year. The sit u a t i o n
c h a n g e d e n t i r e l y in 1 9 5 2 - 5 3 , w h e n the f a v o u r a b l e b a l a n c e of
trade r e a c h e d a new h e i g h t of £357 m i l l i o n as a result of a d r a s t i c r e s t r i c t i o n on imports, whi c h was a n n o u n c e d by the
g o v e r n m e n t on 8 M a r c h 1952. A f t e r 1952-53, A u s t r a l i a ' s 1 . Holder, p. 1 0 . 2. Nicho l s o n , p.p. 49, 8 3 , 112. 3. See Table 2. 4. See E s t i m a t e s of 1952-53, C,P,D, (H. of R . ) , v o l . 218, p.p. 19-29. 5. W* H •Spooner, M i n i s t e r for N a t i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t , C ,P ,D .
( S enate ) , vol. 218, p. 28; . J. A r mstrong, 30-9-1952,
T a b l e 2
A u s t r a l i a ’s O v erseas Tra d e (i n c l u d i n g Gold) £ * 0 0 0 (A)
Year Imports Exports Total Excess of
Exports ( + ) or Imports (~) 1 9 4 6 - 4 7 209,485 309,029 518,514 + 99,544 1947-48 339,746 4 0 9 , 9 5 4 7 4 9 , 7 0 0 + 70,208 1948-49 4 1 5 , 1 9 4 54 6 , 3 3 0 961,524 +127,479 1 9 4 9 - 5 0 538,069 613,697 1 , 1 5 1 , 7 6 6 + 75,628 1950-51 743,871 981,796 1 , 7 2 5 , 6 6 7 +237,925 1951 - 5 2 1 , 0 5 3,423 675,008 1,728,431 -378,415 1 9 5 2-53 514,109 871,272 1,385,381 + 3 57,163 1953-54 681,609 828,332 1 , 5 0 9,941 +146,723 1954-55 843,742 774,164 1 , 6 1 7 , 9 0 6 - 69,578 1955-56 821,008 781,864 1 , 6 0 2,952 - 39,224 1956-57 718,991 9 9 2 , 9 0 6 1 , 7 1 1,897 +273,915 1 9 5 7 - 5 8 7 9 1 , 9 4 0 817,946 1 , 6 0 9 , 8 8 6 + 26,006 1958-59 796,599 811,463 1 , 6 0 8 , 062 + 14,864 1 9 5 9 - 6 0 926,393 937,682 1 , 8 6 4 , 0 7 5 + 11,289
S o u r c e : Overseas Trade Bulletin of A u s t r a l i a , 1946-60;
Y . B . C . A , , 1 9 4 6 - 6 0 ; E c o n o m i c A n d F i n a n c i a l
f a v o u r a b l e b a l a n c e of trade was d o w n the slope a g a i n and by 1954, as A u s t r a l i a ’s traditional markets' demand for her goods b e g a n to weaken, due to the economic reco v e r y of these countries, and the rapid g r o w t h of A u s t r a l i a ' s p r i m a r y and m a n u f a c t u r i n g i n d u s t r i e s a f t e r the war. It be c a m e i n c r e a s i n g ly e v i dent that A u s t r a l i a ' s p r o d u c t s were in excess of
e f f e c t i v e export demands. T h i s was a c o m p l e t e l y new s i t u a tion for A u s t r a l i a , and it be c a m e n e c e s s a r y for her to look for more export markets.
A u s t r a l i a ' s s e c o n d a r y i n d u s t r y e x p a n s i o n in the war and p o s t - w a r p e r i o d was so rap i d and her v i r t u a l neglect of export o p p o r t u n i t i e s in the p o s t - w a r era had served to e m p h a s i z e the fact that A u s t r a l i a as a supp l i e r of m a n u f a c -
2
tured p r o d u c t s was almost u n k n o w n in overseas markets.
3
The F e d e r a l E x p o r t A d v i s o r y C o m m i t t e e r e c o g n i s i n g the
c h a n g i n g c o n d i t i o n s and u r g e n t n e e d to d e v e l o p export o u t lets, d e c ided that only a d y n a m i c a p p r o a c h to overseas s e l l ing w o u l d assist A u s t r a l i a to r e c o v e r some gr o u n d lost in