§ 5. Mr. HANNONasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the final consignment of Australian wool purchases, under the Imperial purchase scheme, has now been shipped; what is the total amount of wool purchased; what is the appraised value and the purchase price actually paid by the British Government; and if he will state how the difference between these two amounts is made up?
§ Captain DOUGLAS KING (Lord of the Treasury)The final consignments of Australian wool purchased under the Imperial purchase scheme have now been shipped. The total amount of Australian wool purchased was 7,156,616 bales. The purchase price paid by the British Government was £160,591,173, and this is the value actually received by the Commonwealth Government and paid by them to the Australian wool growers. It is understood that for purposes of convenience the payments made to the growers by the Australian Government were divided into various instalments, of which the first instalment has been described as the appraised value, but the British Government was in no way concerned with these questions of detail.