§ 30. Lord SCONEasked the Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department the present duty per proof gallon on whiskey entering Australia from Great Britain, and by how much this duty will be reduced as the result of the Ottawa Agreements?
§ Lieut.-Colonel COLVILLEThe British preferential rate of duty on whiskey entering Australia is 45s. per gallon, or per proof gallon if over proof, plus a primage tax of 10 per cent. ad valorem. No immediate reduction in the amount of the duty is provided for in the United Kingdom-Australia Agreement, but in so far as the duty is protective it will fall for review by the Australian Tariff Board in accordance with the provisions of Articles 10 and 11 of the Agreement. I may add that the Commonwealth Government have undertaken to remove or reduce the primage duty of 10 per cent. ad valorem as soon as the finances of Australia will allow.