re: yellowcake ignorance unfortunate
AWB faces Iraq delegation dumping There are signs that Prime Minister John Howard is preparing to dump AWB from the mercy mission to Iraq to save Australian wheat sales.
When Iraq said it would not buy wheat from AWB until after the Cole Inquiry, Mr Howard responded by announcing a delegation would go to Iraq to try to change that.
It will be led by Trade Minister Mark Vaile, who promised wheat growers today he will fight hard.
"I will go into Baghdad, I'll go into the green zone, I may well have to go into the red zone to meet these people on your behalf," he said.
Last week Mr Howard said AWB's chairman, Brendan Stewart, would also be part of the group.
But today the Prime Minister would not say if Mr Stewart was still going.
"We'll make an announcement about the final content of the delegation shortly," Mr Howard said.
Mr Vaile has also refused to confirm that AWB will still be on the delegation, which is due to leave for Iraq within days.
"I am not commenting on the make-up of the delegation, nor the timing of the delegation, suffice to say that we had discussions with AWB last week," he said.
"We've had discussions with graingrowers and the Grains Council of Australia (GCA).
"This is a government-to-government discussion about the relationship and maintaining the stability of the relationship."
Mr Vaile told a group of about 700 farmers in Warracknabeal in Western Victoria today that the single desk - the system under which AWB maintains its wheat exporting monopoly - will remain in operation, as long as there are distortions in the international wheat market.
The farmers had rallied to show their support for the system.
"Wheat growers in the United States receive a third of their income from government subsidies, which amount to almost $4.5 billion a year. These subsidies encourage American farmers to produce too much wheat and distort the world market," he said.
"The European Union is even worse. Wheat growers in Europe get 39 per cent of their income from subsidies, which cost European taxpayers 10.2 billion euros a year.
"In 2002-03, Europe exported 12 million tonnes of subsidised wheat and flour. Australia's entire wheat production in 2002-03 was only 10 million tonnes. The Europeans dumped more wheat and flour than we could grow.
"The single desk is Australia's only equaliser in a distorted world market."
The Prime Minister also said today the Federal Government had no plans to change its policy of supporting the single desk.
