Vaile said the bill would be debated in parliament on Thursday before being submitted to the upper house Senate, where it must be passed to take effect.

"The government's decision to freeze stockpile sales through to June 30, 1999, will allow the industry some breathing space," Vaile said in a statement.

The stockpile sales would resume after July 1 1999, when Wool International, which manages the stockpile, is privatised.

"As equity in the stockpile is now significantly higher than the wool debt there is no justification for ongoing government involvement in its management," Vaile said.

"Privatising the stockpile... will allow it to be managed on a purely commercial basis by a private sector entity in which the directors will be responsible to the shareholders who ownthe stockpile."

Australia's official wool stockpile stands at 1.05 million bales.

Vaile said the Office of Asset Sales had been approached to examine the most efficient and effective way of transferring stockpile responsibilities to Wool International equity holders.

The equity holders are woolgrowers who funded the stockpile through the former Australian Wool Corp's market support scheme abandoned early this decade.