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Sugar price rise
to flow on quickly
A rise of 10c a kilogram in the
retail price of sugar from today,
following a govenment decision, is
expected to flow over into manufac
tured goods within a few days.
Affected will be such manufactured
items as soft drinks, cordials, cakes, ice
creams, confcctionery, baked goods and
beer.
The secretary of the Proprietary Sug
ar Millers Association, Mr John
Desmarchelier, said he did not think
there would be consumer resistance to
the increased prices.
About three-quarters of sugar for
domestic use went to manufacturers.
"It's a matter of manufacturers ex
ercising restraint and not seeking a rip
off from the consumer", he said.
The whole raw-sugar industry in
Queensland and northern NSW would
be pleased with the $80-a-tonnc in
crease announced yesterday.
The rise follows Cabinet considera
tion yesterday morning of a submission
from the Minister for Primary Industry,
Mr Sinclair, on the recommendations of
the McKinnon inquiry into the sugar
industry.
The inquiry, headed by the chair
man of the Industries Assistance Com
mission, Mr Bill McKinnon, recom
mended an increase of $80 a tonne, and
Mr Sinclair is understood to have car
ried this through in his Cabinet sub
mission.
The decision brings the price of man
ufacturing-grade sugar to $370 a tonne.
The announcement was made jointly
by Mr Sinclair, the Federal Minister for
Business and Consumer Affairs, Mr
Fife, and the Queensland Minister for
Primary Industries, Mr Sullivan.
In a statement yesterday, the joint
sugar-industry associations criticised
threatened soft-drink price rises as a
rip-off of consumers.
The associations said soft-drink man
ufacturers had indicated that a 750
millilitre bottle would cost an extra 3c,
but the additional sugar would cost only
about 0.6c.
The executive director of the Aus
tralian Federation of Consumer Or
ganisations, Mr Alan McCann, esti
mated that the rise would increase the
consumer-price index by 0.75 per cent
in a full vcar.
The convener of the Food Industry
Council of Australia, Mr M. J.
Overland, said last night that the food
industry's initial reaction was one of
dismay.
"This increase will add $116.5 mil
lion to consumer's annual food bills and
is likely to increase the CPI by as much
as 0.8 per cent", he said.
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