Grain Deal Losers Weigh Challenge
The Age
Thursday December 28, 2006
GRAIN traders furious with the Howard Government may challenge a decision locking them out of the export wheat market.
Two leading grain traders, Brooks Grain and GrainCorp, are considering whether they can appeal against Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran's rejection of their export applications last week.Forty-six wheat traders applied for licences to export wheat in direct competition with AWB.But only two were successful: the West Australian grain-handling company CBH and Wheat Australia.Ray Brooks of independent trader Brooks Grain, said Mr McGauran's decision should not go unchallenged.Mr Brooks said the decision discriminated against reputable grain traders, and he questioned whether Canberra's condition that the new exporters pay a fee of $4 a tonne to AWB is legally valid."I think (a challenge) has got to happen," he said. "We live in one of the best democracies in the world, and we can't let these National Party people stuff it up."A spokeswoman for GrainCorp, which was bitterly disappointed by last week's ruling, said the company had sought advice and was considering legal options. But the spokeswoman said GrainCorp was concerned that its options may be limited.West Australian Liberal MP Wilson Tuckey, an outspoken critic of AWB, warned senior ministers in the lead-up to last week's decision that some traders might try to challenge any unfavourable ruling.The continuing unrest among wheatgrowers and traders in the wake of the Cole commission of inquiry comes as a new report reveals that AWB lost $9.5 million earlier this year in its first contract to sell wheat to India.The report to growers by the Wheat Export Authority says AWB suffered the loss when Indian authorities refused the first shipment because of quarantine concerns."The cost to the national pool of delays in shipping the first wheat contract to India in 2006 was approximately $9,576,901, consisting of load port demurrage and contract wash-out charges," the authority said in its report."This resulted in four vessels containing wheat shipments being diverted to other markets."But an AWB spokesman said yesterday the marketer always factored risks such as shipping delays and border issues into overseas contracts. He said Indian authorities accepted the cargo once the quarantine issues had been settled, and further shipments had been sent without problems.The spokesman conceded there had been a loss on the first contract but said it needed to be balanced against the long-term gains of Australia winning access to the Indian market.The long-term future of AWB's monopoly beyond the current arrangements will be decided after a consultation period with wheat growers. The issue has sparked divisions within Coalition ranks, with many Nationals campaigning to leave the monopoly with AWB despite the damning Cole findings, and a dogged band of Liberals agitating to deregulate the market.
© 2006 The Age