Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 28—Prices 953
28.7 Wages and prices—–1901 and 2000
1901 prices after
1901 prices
inflation
2000
actual prices
$
$
$
Average weekly wage, adult males 4.35 217.50 830.00
Gold (1oz) 8.50 425.00 460.00
Loaf of bread 0.02 1.00 2.30
Flour (2kg) 0.04 2.00 3.00
Sugar (2kg) 0.09 4.50 2.30
Coffee (150g) 0.05 2.50 6.00
Tea (180g) 0.06 3.00 3.40
Rice (1kg) 0.05 2.50 1.65
Butter (500g) 0.13 6.50 2.00
Potatoes (1kg) 0.02 1.00 1.30
Onions (1kg) 0.03 1.50 1.25
Rump steak (1kg) 0.14 7.00 12.50
Eggs (1 dozen) 0.12 6.00 2.90
Bacon (1kg) 0.19 9.50 9.40
Jam (500g) 0.04 2.00 2.50
Milk (1 litre) 0.03 1.50 1.40
Men’s cotton shirt 0.85 42.50 53.10
Men’s trousers’ 0.50 25.00 58.50
Women’s shoes (1 pair) 1.45 72.50 65.80
Umbrella 0.40 20.00 16.50
Rent on 3 bedroom house (1 week) 1.30 65.00 250.00
Double bed, mattress, blankets and pillows 12.10 605.00 830.00
Train trip 0.60 3.00 12.80
Bicycle 31.00 1 550.00 320.00
Whisky (1 bottle) 0.38 19.00 26.00
Carton of beer (1 dozen 750ml bottles) 0.70 35.00 28.00
Packet of cigarettes 0.05 2.50 11.20
Soap (600g) 0.03 1.50 3.05
Cough medicine (200ml) 0.25 12.50 14.90
Daily newspaper 0.01 50c 1.00
New release novel 0.25 12.50 45.00
Concert 0.75 37.50 39.30
Theatre 0.35 17.50 30.90
Game of football 0.10 5.00 21.70
Source: See references.
Producer price indexes
The Producer Price Indexes measure changes in
prices received, or paid, by producers of
commodities. In Australia they generally relate to
prices for goods and services as they affect
businesses, for example the input and output
price of goods for the manufacturing sector, the
input price of goods for the building industry and
more recently the output price of property and
business services and transport (freight) and
storage services. This contrasts with the
Consumer Price Index which measures changes
in the retail prices paid by consumers, as
explained earlier in this chapter.
Long-term price series
Table 28.8 presents a set of producer price
indexes for the years 1861 to 1999–2000. The
indexes comprise the linked wholesale price
indexes from 1861 to 1967–68 and the producer
price index for manufacturing from 1968–69
onwards. These indexes are discussed below.
The first price index of this kind, compiled by the
Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics,
was the Melbourne Wholesale Price Index, which
was introduced in 1912 with index numbers
compiled back to 1861 using prices extracted
from newspapers and trade publications. Index
numbers were compiled up to 1961. The index
related chiefly to basic materials and foods
weighted in accordance with consumption in
about the year 1910.