Australian Government cabinet papers for 1978, just released by the National Archives of Australia, have revealed a bizarre proposal that was tabled by Alfa Romeo to trade ‘cars for cows’. Then-Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser had a passion for Italian cars, in particular Lancias.  Falling in love with an Aurelia whilst studying at Oxford University in the 1950s, Fraser has previously owned a string of the Turinese marque’s output; currently he owns a 1966 Flaminia 2.8 berlina. Photo: Wheels.

Australian Government cabinet papers for 1978, just released by the National Archives of Australia, have revealed a bizarre proposal by Alfa Romeo to trade ‘cars for cows’. The deal would have involved buying 7000 tonnes of beef and beef offal, in exchange for permission to sell 2000 cars – the amount calculated as equivalent in value to the meat – over and above their allocation.

Until 1988, Australian car imports were restricted by a volume import quota. All imports were heavily taxed with a tariff of 57.5 per cent, but importers who went over their allocation faced a tariff of 100 per cent on any imports above the quota. Increases in quotas were also expensive and difficult to secure, with every importer fighting for a highly limited number of licences.

The deal was proposed by the then-state-owned Alfa Romeo as an imaginative way to bypass strict EEC trade barriers, which maintained high barriers against the importation of Australian primary products. In his submission to cabinet, the minister for special trade representations, Victor Garland, said the proposal came from the Italian embassy in Canberra, with Alfa Romeo in Italy subsequently confirming it was prepared to purchase Australian beef to be served in Italian factory canteens.

Alfa’s parent company, the state-owned Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRR), would work through an Italian importer with access to part of Italy’s share of the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) levy-free quota. The importer usually sourced beef in Argentina, but IRR determined that it could exert its influence as a large customer for it to buy Australian. The proposal was envisaged as a one-off deal, but did not rule out “the possibility of something beyond that”.

Garland said the GATT system worked against Australia, which made negligible exports to EEC nations, and hence, had no established connections with meat importers. He said the proposal could present an opportunity to break into the continental community market for significant beef sales. However, he had reservations about Australia becoming involved in the business of trading car quotas, and was worried about whether such an arrangement could be confined to the EEC.

Of concern was whether other big buyers of Australian beef, such as the USSR or even Japan, would be stimulated into seeking enlarged car import quotas. The Industry Department also noted that allocating an additional quota to Alfa Romeo would mean taking it away from other European car makers – it notably feared that BMW and Porsche may close dealerships if this was to happen. Mr Garland recommended that cabinet endorse further investigations, but in the event, the suggestion was deferred for further consideration; the proposal was eventually quietly dropped.

Then-Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser had a passion for Italian cars, in particular Lancias. Falling in love with an Aurelia whilst studying at Oxford University in the 1950s, Fraser has previously owned a string of the Turinese marque’s output, including a Flaminia Zagato Super Sport, a Fulvia 1.6 HF, a Flavia 2000 sedan and, currently, a 1966 Flaminia 2.8 berlina, plus an Alfa 164 for wife Tamie.

by Shant Fabricatorian

Additional material: The Australian / > Cabinet Paper