asked the Minister of Food the average weight of Tasmanian apples imported into this country in the three full years 1936, 1937, 1938, and the average weight in the years 1946, 1947. 1948.

Official import returns do not show the quantities of apples received from the individual Australian States. The average annual import of apples from Australia for the three years 1936 to 1938 was 77,057 tons and for the three years 1946 to 1948 was 26,203 tons.

Can the right hon. Lady give an assurance that she is doing all she can to stimulate this very valuable import at the present time?

Yes, I can assure the hon. Gentleman on that point, but our difficulty is that there is a shortage of refrigerated tonnage. The available tonnage is being used for meat.