AUSTRALIA'S PROBLEM

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 75, 28 March 1923, Page 4

AUSTRALIA'S PROBLEM

Senator Pearee's announcement that the new Federal Government means to adopt "a vigorous development policy" in the Northern Territory follows a similar one by the Prime Minister. Both statements go into detail. Mr. Pearce says there will be improved communication by road and rail, development of water supply on stock routes, subsidising of shipping, and improvement in land tenures. Xeither, however, will arouse enthusiasm, for the history of the Northern Territory since the Commonwealth has been n record of endless talk, the wrong kind of action, and hope deferred. The story of Port Darwin in recent years is a melancholy tale of a bureaucratic government, a rebellious populace, and stagnating industries. The white population of the Territory in 1021 was SOO less than in 1901, and only 500 more than in the }tar (1011) in which the Commonwealth took over responsibility. What the Territory wants is better communication, less bureaucracy, and the introduction of some practical scheme of land settlement. The construction of a railway connecting Port Darwin with Melbourne and Adelaide is a promise to South Australia the fulfilment of which is long overdue. It would put an end to the crippling isolation of the Territory. The terms on which settlers can take up land on lease are liberal, but we wonder whether the decision not to grant the freehold of any more land will hold against the fact that the freehold can be obtained in more favoured parts of Australia. If Mr. Bruce can bring prosperity to the Northern Territory he will make a name for himself. The question of the settlement of Northern Australia is the most difficult problem facing Australia. "If a line is drawn across the continent from, say, Rockharnpton to Geraldton, our claim to everything above it, save a thin east coast strip, is liable to be called in question for lack of effective occupation, as the Dutch claim was called in question by our off-hand British ancestors." So'says the "Bulletin," untiring in presfins the problem upon Australian attention/ and adds that "the question of White Australia must be argued there to a finish."