| It
is
time
for
the
Government
to
immediately
put
in
place
measures
to
address
one
of
the
most
ravaged
sectors
of
the
economy
-
Persian
carpets.
Not
a
weekend
foes
by
without
the
spectacle
of
yet
another
major
Persian
carpet
retailer
being
placed
into
receivership. Liquidators
are
acting
in
a
merciless
fashion,
forcing
these
businesses
to
sell
all
their
quality
stock
at
simply
crazy
prices,
sometimes
as
much
as
95
per
cent
off
the
original
wholesale
price. In
Canberra
we
recently
had
a
tragic
episode
where
40,000
Persian
carpets
were
trucked
into
the
city
from
interstate
and
all
stock
had
to
be
sold
in
just
one
weekend
to
meet
creditors'
demands.
That
means
a
Persian
carpet
had
to
be
bought
by
every
2.5
households
in
the
region
just
for
this
small
business
to
meet
its
debts. Urgent
and
substantial
government
subsidies
are
needed
to
keep
the
Persian
carpet
sector
afloat. John
Howard
needs
to
act
now
because
I
personally
cannot
tolerate
another
TV
or
newspaper
campaign
telling
us
that
another
Persian
carpet
retailer
has
been
ruined
by
so-called
market
forces. Kim
Meredith,
Ainslie
(ACT)
15
Nov
2001. | 
