This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
Jurisdiction
Commonwealth
Act Number
39 of 1951
Collection
act
Plain English Summary
4/10 complexity
Cotton Bounty Act 1951 — Plain English Summary
What is this law about?
This Act set up a government subsidy (bounty) to support Australian cotton farmers. Specifically, it paid money to encourage the production of seed cotton (raw cotton still attached to the seed, as pulled from the cotton boll) that was grown and processed in Australia.
Who does it affect?
Growers — farmers who grew seed cotton in Australia
Processors — businesses (individuals, companies, or growers' cooperatives) that bought seed cotton from farmers, ginned it (separated the cotton fibre from the seed) at a registered facility called a ginnery, and sold the resulting raw cotton
The Commonwealth government — which funded the bounty from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (the main federal government account)
How did the bounty work?
The bounty applied to seed cotton harvested from 1 January 1951 and delivered to a ginnery by 31 December 1955
The raw cotton produced from that seed cotton had to be sold for use in Australia (not exported)
Only cotton above a minimum quality grade ("strict good ordinary") qualified
The bounty rate was a top-up payment: if the average price farmers received was less than of seed cotton, the government paid the difference — essentially a price floor to guarantee farmers a minimum return
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
ninepence halfpenny per pound
However, if a processor was paying farmers less than they should have (pocketing more than a fair share of the proceeds after ginning costs), the bounty would be reduced accordingly — a built-in fairness check
Who received the money?
The bounty was paid to the processor, but the processor was legally required to pass it on to the growers whose cotton was used. Processors had to keep proper accounts, get them audited, and report to the government.
Compliance and enforcement
Processors had to register their ginnery with the Minister; registration could be cancelled for non-compliance
Government inspectors ("authorised persons") could enter ginneries to inspect cotton, take samples, check production processes, and review financial records
Officials could compel people to answer questions under oath — even if the answers might be self-incriminating (though those answers couldn't be used against them in other proceedings)
Processors could be required to provide security (like a bond or cash deposit) to guarantee compliance
Penalties applied for fraud, false statements, or obstructing inspectors — up to £500 or 12 months' imprisonment for serious offences
Courts could order repayment of any bounty wrongly obtained
Transparency
The Comptroller-General of Customs was required to prepare an annual report to Parliament for each year of the scheme, listing how much bounty was paid, to whom, for how much cotton, and how many farmers benefited.
Why does it matter?
This law was a short-term, time-limited government support scheme for the Australian cotton industry during the early 1950s — essentially a rural industry assistance measure designed to keep domestic cotton farming viable by guaranteeing farmers a minimum price. It replaced a series of earlier Raw Cotton Bounty Acts dating back to 1940.