{"id":"C1973A00159","name":"Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1973","slug":"wheat-industry-stabilization-act-1973","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"159 of 1973","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":2575,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1973A00159-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-29","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1973","content":"Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1973\n\nNo. 159 of 1973\n\nAN ACT\n\nTo amend the Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1968-1970.\n\n\\[Assented to 3 December 1973\\]\n\nBE IT ENACTED by the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Australia, as follows:—\n\nShort title and citation.\n\n1\\. (1) This Act may be cited as the Wheat Industry Stabilization Act\n\n1973.\n\n(2) The Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1968-1970 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.\n\n(3) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1968-1973.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. This Act shall come into operation, or shall be deemed to have come into operation, as the case requires, on a date to be fixed by Proclamation, which may be a date earlier than the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.\n\nParts.\n\n3. Section 3 of the Principal Act is repealed.\n\n  \n\nDefinitions.\n\n4. Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting the definition\n\nof “quota season” and substituting the following definition:—\n\n“‘quota season’ means the season that commenced on 1 October 1969 or any of the next four succeeding seasons;”.\n\nSeasons to which Act applies.\n\n5. Section 6 of the Principal Act is amended.—\n\n(a) by omitting from sub-section (1) the word “six” and substituting the word “seven”; and\n\n(b) by omitting from sub-section (2) the word “four” and substituting the word “five”.\n\nProclamation of quota seasons.\n\n6. Section 6a of the Principal Act is repealed.\n\nGuaranteed price.\n\n7. Section 7 of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:—\n\n“(4) For the purposes of this Act, the guaranteed price of wheat of the season that commenced on 1 October 1973 is Fifty-eight dollars seventy-nine cents per tonne”.\n\nQuota seasons.\n\n8. Section 21a of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:—\n\n“(5) In exercising its powers under sub-section (4) of section 21 in respect of wheat of the quota season that commenced on 1 October 1973, the Board may have regard to the possibility that the Australian wheat quota originally determined for that season for the purposes of the laws of the States providing for the fixing of wheat quotas may be increased by a quantity not exceeding 544,311 tonnes.”.\n\n9. After section 27 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:—\n\nHome consumption price of wheat for 1973-1974.\n\n“27aa. (1) The price at which, during the year commencing on 1 December 1973, the Board shall, in a Territory, sell wheat for use or consumption in Australia is the appropriate price ascertained in accordance with this section.\n\n“(2) For the purposes of this section, the Minister shall, after consultation with the appropriate Minister of each State, fix an amount per tonne as the calculated price of wheat of the season that commenced on 1 October 1973 (in this section referred to as ‘the calculated price’).\n\n“(3) In fixing the calculated price the Minister shall proceed as if—\n\n(a) that price were to be the guaranteed price of wheat of the season that commenced on 1 October 1973 and were to be fixed in accordance with sub-section (3) of section 7; and\n\n(b) the reference in sub-section (1) of section 7 to One dollar forty-five cents per bushel were a reference to Fifty-three dollars twenty-eight cents per tonne.\n\n  \n\n“(4) Subject to this section, the price per tonne in respect of a wholesale sale of bulk wheat of fair average quality free on rails at a port of export is the sum of the calculated price and Nine dollars and nineteen cents.\n\n“(5) For the purpose of reimbursing the Board for costs of shipment of wheat to the State of Tasmania, the price applicable under sub-section (4) shall be increased by an amount of Thirty-seven cents per tonne, or, if the Minister has made a determination or determinations under sub-section (6), by the amount applicable in accordance with, the latest such determination.\n\n“(6) If the Board, at any time, reports to the Minister that the amounts being received by the Board by reason of the operation of sub-section (5), together with amounts being received under corresponding provisions of the laws of the States, are greater or less than the amounts required to meet the costs of shipment of wheat by the Board to the State of Tasmania, the Minister may determine that the amount per tonne to be added to the price in accordance with sub-section (5) shall be reduced or increased to such extent as he considers necessary.\n\n“(7) The price in respect of a sale other than a sale specified in sub-section (4) is a price per tonne ascertained by adding to or deducting from the price per tonne applicable to sales so specified an amount that makes a proper allowance for the quality of the wheat, the conditions of sale and the place of delivery.”.\n\nPrice of wheat for use in Australia otherwise than for human consumption.\n\n10. Section 27a of the Principal Act is amended—\n\n(a) by omitting from sub-section (1) the words “the last preceding section” and substituting the words “sections 27 and 27aa”; and\n\n(b) by omitting from sub-section (1) the words “that section” and substituting the words “section 27 or 27aa”.\n\nSpecial account for freight to the State of Tasmania.\n\n11. Section 28 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from sub-section (4) the words “the thirtieth day of September, One thousand nine hundred and seventy-three,” and substituting “30 September 1974”.\n\nRefunds from Fund.\n\n12. Section 32 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from sub-section (2) the words “the thirtieth day of September, One thousand nine hundred and seventy-three,” and substituting the words “30 September 1974”.\n\nMinor amendments.\n\n13. The Principal Act is amended as set out in the Schedule.\n\n  \n\nSCHEDULE Section 13\n\nMINOR AMENDMENTS\n\n1\\. The following provisions of the Principal Act are amended by omitting the words “of this Act” and “of this section” (wherever occurring):—\n\nSections 5 (definition of “the guaranteed price”), 6(2), 7(3), 9(6), (7), (8) and (9), 18(5), 20(1), 21(1) and (6), 21a(4), 24(1), 27(6), 27a(4), 28(4), 31(3) and (5) and 32(1), (4) and (6).\n\n2\\. The Principal Act is tether amended as set out in the following table:—\n\n| Provision          | Amendment                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |\n| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Section 4......    | Omit “the first day of October, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,” (wherever occurring), substitute “1 October 1968”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |\n| Section 6......    | Omit “the first day of October, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,” (wherever occurring), substitute “1 October 1968”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |\n| Section 7(1)....   | Omit “the first day of October, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,” substitute “1 October 1968”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |\n| Section 7(3)....   | Omit “the first day of October, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight”, substitute “1 October 1968”,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |\n| Section 18.....    | Add the following sub-section:—“(5a) Where, during the season that commenced on 1 October 1973 or a subsequent season, a person contravenes sub-section (5), the penalty provided in that sub-section does not apply, but that person is guilty of an offence punishable, on conviction, by a fine not exceeding—(a) an amount equal to three times the amount calculated, in respect of the quantity of the wheat in respect of which the offence is committed, at the rate of the guaranteed price of wheat of that season; or(b) if there is no such guaranteed price —an amount calculated in respect of that quantity of wheat at the rate of Twenty dollars for each 100 kilograms or part of 100 kilograms of that quantity of wheat,or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, or both”.                                                                                                                      |\n| Section 20.....    | After sub-section (1), insert the following sub-section:—“(1a) Where, during the season that commenced on 1 October 1973 or a subsequent season, a person contravenes sub-section (1), the penalty provided in that sub-section does not apply, but that person is guilty of an offence punishable, on conviction, by a fine not exceeding-(a) an amount equal to three times the amount calculated, in respect of the quantity of the wheat, or of the wheat equivalent of the wheat products, in respect of which the offence is committed, at the rate of the guaranteed price of wheat of that season; or(b) if There is no such guaranteed price—an amount calculated in respect of that quantity of wheat or wheat equivalent at the rate of Twenty dollars for each 100 kilograms or part of .100 kilograms of that quantity of wheat or wheat equivalent,or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months, or both”. |\n| Section 20(2)...   | Omit “the last preceding sub-section”, substitute “sub-section (1)”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |\n| Section 21(2)(b).  | Omit “Two and one-half cents per bushel”, substitute “Ninety-two cents per tonne”,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |\n| Section 21(2)(c).. | Omit “bushels”, substitute “tonnes”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |\n| Section 21(7)...   | (a) Omit “bushel”, substitute “tonne”.(b) Omit “bushels”, substitute “tonnes”.(c) Omit “Two hundred million”, substitute “5,443,108”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |\n| Section 23(1)...   | Omit “the fifteenth day of September, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,” substitute “15 September 1968”.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |\n\n  \n\nSchedule—continued\n\n| Provision            | Amendment                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |\n| -------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |\n| Section 24(3).....   | (a) Omit “of this Act” (first occurring).(b) Omit “of this section”.                                                                                                                                                          |\n| Section 27(1).....   | (a) Omit “the first day of December, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,” substitute “1 December 1968”(b) Omit “the first day of December, One thousand nine hundred and seventy-three”, substitute “1 December 1973”. |\n| Section 27(2).....   | (a) Omit “bushel”, substitute “tonne”.(b) Omit “One dollar seventy cents”, substitute “Sixty-two dollars forty-six cents”.                                                                                                    |\n| Section 27(3).....   | Omit “One dollar forty-five cents per bushel”, substitute “Fifty-three dollars twenty-eight cents per tonne”.                                                                                                                 |\n| Section 27(4).....   | Omit “One cent per bushel”, substitute “Thirty-seven cents per tonne”.                                                                                                                                                        |\n| Section 27(5).....   | Omit “bushel”, substitute “tonne”.                                                                                                                                                                                            |\n| Section 27(6).....   | Omit “bushel” (wherever occurring), substitute “tonne”                                                                                                                                                                        |\n| Section 27(7).....   | Omit “the first day of December, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,”, substitute “1 December 1968”.                                                                                                                   |\n| Section 27(8)(a).... | Omit “the first day of December, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,” substitute “1 December 1968”.                                                                                                                    |\n| Section 27(8)(b).... | Omit “the next succeeding section”, substitute “section 28”.                                                                                                                                                                  |\n| Section 27a.......   | Omit “bushel” (wherever occurring), substitute “tonne”.                                                                                                                                                                       |\n| Section 27a(5).....  | Omit “the last preceding section”, substitute “section 27 or sub-section (5) of section 27aa”.                                                                                                                                |\n| Section 28(1).....   | Omit “the last preceding section”, substitute “section 27 and sub-sections (5) and (6) of section 27aa”.                                                                                                                      |\n| Section 28(3).....   | Omit “of this section”.                                                                                                                                                                                                       |\n| Section 32(7a).....  | Omit “section twenty-one a of this Act”, substitute “ section 21a”,                                                                                                                                                           |\n| Section 32(8).....   | Omit “the first day of October, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight,”, substitute “1 October 1968”.                                                                                                                     |","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Section 2","severity":"high","reasoning":"While retrospective commencement by Proclamation was a known legislative technique in this era, the Act imposes substantive obligations — including pricing rules (s.27aa) and penalty provisions (Schedule, ss.18 and 20 amendments) — that could not practically have been complied with before the Act was known to exist. In particular, the penalty provisions for offences during the 1973 season (commencing 1 October 1973) could theoretically catch conduct occurring before the Act was even assented to on 3 December 1973, let alone proclaimed. For the pricing provisions, selling wheat at the 'wrong' price before the Act was proclaimed would retrospectively become a breach.","confidence":0.82,"description":"The commencement provision allows the Act to be deemed to have come into operation on a date *earlier* than the date it received Royal Assent (3 December 1973). Combined with Section 7's insertion of a guaranteed price for the season that commenced 1 October 1973 and Section 9's insertion of s.27aa governing prices from 1 December 1973, this creates retroactive legal obligations and rights that persons could not have known about or complied with at the time."},{"type":"retroactive_impossibility","section":"Schedule — Section 18 amendment (new s.18(5a)) and Section 20 amendment (new s.20(1a))","severity":"high","reasoning":"Criminal or quasi-criminal liability (offences carrying fines multiple times the guaranteed price, or imprisonment up to 6 months) that is applied retrospectively to conduct predating the Act's assent is a fundamental legal absurdity. A person who acted between 1 October and 3 December 1973 could not have known which penalty regime would apply to them. The provision expressly overrides the penalty in the original sub-section for that period, so even the existing penalty is displaced retroactively. This creates a gap: did the old penalty apply to pre-assent conduct in the 1973 season, or the new one? The answer is genuinely unclear.","confidence":0.85,"description":"The new penalty provisions inserted by the Schedule apply to offences committed 'during the season that commenced on 1 October 1973 or a subsequent season', yet the Act was only assented to on 3 December 1973, meaning offences committed between 1 October and 2 December 1973 would be captured by a penalty regime that did not exist when the conduct occurred. This is a retroactive criminal penalty provision."},{"type":"other","section":"Section 4 (amending definition of 'quota season') and Section 5 (amending s.6 of the Principal Act)","severity":"medium","reasoning":"The interplay between redefining 'quota season' by a fixed formula (s.4) and simultaneously repealing the proclamation mechanism (s.6) creates a structural tension. If the quota season definition is now self-executing (no proclamation needed), then repealing s.6a is sensible. But if the Principal Act's other provisions still contemplate proclamation of individual quota seasons, the repeal of s.6a leaves those provisions without an activation mechanism. Whether this is truly absurd depends on the Principal Act's full text, which is not provided, reducing confidence.","confidence":0.55,"description":"Section 4 redefines 'quota season' as the season commencing 1 October 1969 or any of the *next four* succeeding seasons (i.e., up to and including the season commencing 1 October 1973 — five seasons total). Section 5(b) simultaneously amends s.6(2) of the Principal Act by substituting 'five' for 'four'. However, Section 6 of this Act then *repeals* s.6a of the Principal Act (the 'Proclamation of quota seasons' provision), which was the mechanism by which individual seasons were proclaimed as quota seasons. Without s.6a, the definition of 'quota season' in s.4 has no operative proclamation mechanism to activate individual seasons within the defined range."},{"type":"self_contradicting","section":"Section 9 (new s.27aa(2) and (3))","severity":"medium","reasoning":"Section 7 of the amending Act inserts s.7(4) fixing the guaranteed price at $58.79/tonne for the 1973 season. Section 9 then requires the Minister to calculate a separate 'calculated price' for home consumption pricing purposes using a base of $53.28/tonne — a meaningfully different figure. The 'calculated price' feeds into the home consumption price formula in s.27aa(4), which adds $9.19/tonne, yielding approximately $62.47+/tonne depending on the Minister's calculation. It is unclear why the legislature fixed a guaranteed price in s.7(4) and then required the Minister to calculate a different notional price using a different base for home consumption purposes in the same season. This creates genuine interpretive confusion about which figure governs what.","confidence":0.72,"description":"The Minister is required to fix the 'calculated price' by proceeding *as if* the price were the guaranteed price under s.7(3) and *as if* the reference in s.7(1) to 'One dollar forty-five cents per bushel' were a reference to 'Fifty-three dollars twenty-eight cents per tonne'. However, s.7(4) (inserted by s.7 of *this* Act) has already fixed the guaranteed price for the 1973 season at $58.79 per tonne — a different figure. The Minister must therefore notionally calculate a price using a different base rate than the one actually fixed by statute for the same season, creating two coexisting 'guaranteed prices' for the 1973-74 season with different values."},{"type":"other","section":"Section 9 (new s.27aa(5) and (6))","severity":"low","reasoning":"The provision does not specify whether Ministerial determinations under s.27aa(6) operate prospectively or from the start of the pricing period. The phrase 'at any time' in sub-section (6) suggests the power is ongoing and not time-limited, but the absence of a prospectivity clause creates ambiguity about the legal effect of each determination on prior transactions. This is a low-severity drafting infelicity rather than a fundamental impossibility.","confidence":0.6,"description":"Sub-section (5) sets the Tasmania freight surcharge at 37 cents per tonne as a default. Sub-section (6) allows the Minister to vary this amount after the Board reports that receipts are greater or less than costs. However, sub-section (5) specifies that the applicable amount is the default *or* 'the amount applicable in accordance with the latest such determination' — meaning a determination under (6) retrospectively becomes the operative figure from the moment it is made, with no transition provision. A seller who charged the 37-cent default before a Ministerial determination is made could be found to have charged the wrong price if the determination is made retroactively effective."}],"contradictions":[{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 7 (inserting s.7(4) of the Principal Act — guaranteed price fixed at $58.79/tonne)","section_b":"Section 9 (inserting s.27aa(3) — Minister to calculate price as if base rate is $53.28/tonne)","confidence":0.75,"description":"Section 7 of the amending Act fixes the guaranteed price for the 1973 season at $58.79 per tonne as a matter of statute. Section 9 then directs the Minister to calculate the home consumption 'calculated price' by proceeding *as if* the guaranteed price base rate were $53.28 per tonne — a different and lower figure. This means the Act simultaneously fixes one price by statute and requires the executive to calculate a different notional price for the same season using a different starting point, without explaining the relationship between the two figures or which governs in any given context."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 2 (retrospective commencement possible before Royal Assent)","section_b":"Schedule amendments to ss.18 and 20 (new penalty provisions apply from 1 October 1973)","confidence":0.7,"description":"Section 2 contemplates retrospective commencement but this is framed as a general power. The Schedule's amendments to ss.18 and 20 independently fix their own temporal scope ('the season that commenced on 1 October 1973'), meaning the penalty provisions apply from 1 October 1973 regardless of when the Act is proclaimed to commence. This creates an internal inconsistency: the commencement section implies commencement is controlled by Proclamation, but the substantive penalty provisions set their own earlier operative date, circumventing the Proclamation mechanism entirely."},{"severity":"medium","section_a":"Section 4 (redefining 'quota season' as a fixed five-season range ending with the 1973 season)","section_b":"Section 5(a) (amending s.6(1) of the Principal Act by substituting 'seven' for 'six' seasons)","confidence":0.65,"description":"Section 4 defines 'quota season' as covering exactly five seasons (1969-70 through 1973-74 inclusive). Section 5(a) expands the total number of seasons to which the Principal Act applies from six to seven. If the Act applies to seven seasons total (commencing from 1968-69), but 'quota seasons' are defined as only five of those seasons (1969-70 through 1973-74), this leaves the first season (1968-69) and the seventh season (presumably 1974-75) as non-quota seasons under the Act. It is unclear what legal regime governs the seventh season given that the quota season definition does not extend to it, creating a gap between the Act's temporal scope and the quota mechanism's scope."},{"severity":"high","section_a":"Section 9 (new s.27aa — home consumption price for 1 December 1973 to 30 November 1974)","section_b":"Section 11 (amending s.28(4) — extending the special Tasmania freight account to 30 September 1974)","confidence":0.78,"description":"Section 9's new s.27aa applies a Tasmania freight surcharge (ss.(5) and (6)) throughout the 'year commencing on 1 December 1973' — i.e., until 30 November 1974. However, Section 11 extends the special Tasmania freight account in s.28(4) of the Principal Act only until *30 September 1974*. This creates a two-month gap (1 October to 30 November 1974) during which the s.27aa(5) surcharge continues to be collected but the s.28 account into which such receipts are presumably paid has expired, leaving no statutory mechanism to hold or disburse those funds."}]},"summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This amendment does not change the fundamental scope or purpose of the legislation. It remains squarely focused on wheat industry stabilisation through guaranteed prices, production quotas, and domestic pricing controls. The 1973 Act simply extends the existing scheme by one additional season (the seventh), sets the relevant financial parameters for that season, and modernises the language and measurement units used throughout the Principal Act. There is no expansion into new subject matter, new industries, or new regulatory functions."},"complexity_factors":["Amendment act — requires reading alongside the Principal Act (Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1968–1970) to be fully understood","Multiple cross-references to existing sections of the Principal Act throughout","Conditional pricing logic in new section 27aa, including base price, add-ons, and ministerial discretion to adjust the Tasmanian freight surcharge","Nested references to State laws (quota-fixing laws of the States) without specifying them","Retrospective commencement possible — can come into operation before Royal Assent via Proclamation","Large Schedule of minor amendments creates navigational complexity, requiring readers to track changes across many sections simultaneously","Dual measurement systems present during transition — imperial to metric conversions embedded in the Schedule","Penalty provisions contain conditional branches (guaranteed price exists vs. does not exist) affecting calculation of fines"],"plain_english_summary":"## Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1973 — Plain English Summary\n\nThis law is an **amendment act** — it doesn't stand alone, but instead updates and extends an earlier law called the **Wheat Industry Stabilization Act 1968–1970**, which created a system to support Australian wheat farmers through guaranteed prices and production quotas (limits on how much wheat could be grown).\n\n### What does it actually do?\n\n**1. Extends the scheme by one more season**\nThe original stabilisation scheme was set to cover six wheat-growing seasons. This amendment adds a seventh season (the 1973–74 season, starting 1 October 1973), keeping the support system alive for another year.\n\n**2. Sets a guaranteed price for the 1973–74 season**\nWheat farmers growing in the 1973–74 season are guaranteed a price of **$58.79 per tonne** for their wheat. This is a financial safety net — if the market price falls below this, the scheme kicks in to make up the difference.\n\n**3. Sets the home consumption price for 1973–74**\nThe law fixes the price at which the **Australian Wheat Board** (the government body that manages wheat marketing) must sell wheat inside Australia during the year starting 1 December 1973. This involves:\n- A \"calculated price\" determined by the Minister after consulting State ministers\n- An add-on of **$9.19 per tonne** above that calculated price for bulk wheat sold at export ports\n- A small freight surcharge of **37 cents per tonne** to cover the extra cost of shipping wheat to **Tasmania**\n\n**4. Adjusts the Tasmanian freight account deadlines**\nThe scheme maintains a special fund to reimburse freight costs for shipping wheat to Tasmania. This amendment extends the cut-off date for that fund from 30 September 1973 to **30 September 1974**, keeping it running for the extra season.\n\n**5. Updates quota rules**\nThe \"quota season\" definition is extended to include the 1973–74 season. The Wheat Board is also given flexibility to plan on the basis that the national wheat quota might be **increased by up to 544,311 tonnes** during that season.\n\n**6. Updates penalties — switching to metric**\nThe penalties for breaching wheat-selling rules are updated for the new season to reflect the now-metric measurement system (tonnes instead of bushels). Penalties can be up to **three times the guaranteed price** of the wheat involved, or **$20 per 100 kilograms**, plus possible imprisonment of up to **six months**.\n\n**7. Modernises the language throughout**\nA large number of housekeeping changes are made to the existing law:\n- All measurements are converted from **imperial** (bushels, cents per bushel) to **metric** (tonnes, dollars per tonne)\n- Wordy old-style dates like \"the first day of October, One thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight\" are replaced with modern format dates like \"1 October 1968\"\n- Clunky cross-references like \"the last preceding section\" are replaced with specific section numbers\n\n### Who does this affect?\n- **Wheat farmers** across Australia, who benefit from price guarantees and quota arrangements\n- **The Australian Wheat Board**, which manages wheat marketing, pricing, and sales both domestically and for export\n- **Wheat buyers** in Australia, particularly those purchasing in bulk for domestic consumption\n- **Tasmanian consumers and distributors**, who are affected by the freight surcharge provisions\n\n### Why does it matter?\nAustralia's wheat industry in the early 1970s depended heavily on this stabilisation scheme to protect farmers from volatile world prices. This amendment keeps that safety net in place for one more year, sets the key financial numbers for 1973–74, and tidies up the law's language — including a significant shift from imperial to metric measurements, reflecting Australia's broader metrication program underway at the time."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/wheat-industry-stabilization-act-1973","history":"/api/acts/wheat-industry-stabilization-act-1973/history","analysis":"/api/acts/wheat-industry-stabilization-act-1973/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/wheat-industry-stabilization-act-1973/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/wheat-industry-stabilization-act-1973/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/wheat-industry-stabilization-act-1973/documents"}}