I will have to oppose this section. The Minister, in his defence of the Bill, intimated that whatever may have been the value of the Bill up to date it is not any longer going to be of value in assisting the dairying industry. It, therefore, seems to me that Section 1 ought to be amended by fixing, say, 1st of June as the last date on which this customs duty should be imposed. The Bill would legalise all that has been done up to date, and would meet the Minister's plea. The Minister told us, as the advocate of the Bill, that it is not going to have any effect on the price of butter. If it is not it cannot assist the farmers in any degree. So far as the future is concerned, this particular section is quite useless.
Finance (Customs Duties) Bill, 1931—Committee and Final Stages.
Question proposed: "That Section 1 stand part of the Bill."
The Senator is under some slight misapprehension. What I did say was that it would have no effect in the summer months. If there is no cold storage it will have some effect in the winter months. I said also that so far as this tariff costs anything, the cost has already been paid to a very large extent. The cost up to date is £250,000. It will not cost anything like that in the future. It will not cost anything at all unless there is a slight increase in the winter. So far as this is an experiment, it will be only useful to see its effects next winter, and, for these reasons, having imposed the tariff, we should see it through. I am very strongly of that opinion.
Question agreed to.
Sections 2, 3 and 4 and the Title agreed to.
Bill reported without recommendation.
Question—"That the Bill be received for final consideration"— agreed to.
Question—"That the Bill do now pass"—agreed to.