Australian Wheat Board
1915 – 1921
Wartime Commonwealth–state board that acquired, pooled and marketed the Australian wheat harvest during and immediately after the First World War, when shipping shortages made the normal export trade impossible.
How it came into existence
Formed in late 1915 under an agreement between the Commonwealth and the wheat-growing states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, with the Prime Minister as chairman and ministers of those states as members; the compulsory acquisition of the harvest rested on complementary state wheat acquisition legislation. It had no Commonwealth predecessor.
Legislation: Commonwealth–state wheat agreement of 1915; complementary state wheat acquisition legislation
How it ended
Ceased in 1921 after the last of the compulsory wartime wheat pools was wound up; wheat marketing reverted to private traders and to state-based and co-operative voluntary pools.
Main functions
- Compulsory acquisition and pooling of the wheat harvest
- Sale of wheat to the British Government and other overseas buyers
- Arranging shipping for wheat exports
- Advance and final payments to growers from the pools
- Coordination of state wheat-handling authorities
Lineage
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Sources
Some dates or links for this organisation are uncertain. Corrections are welcome.