HIGHER SALARIES ADVOCATED

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24370, 23 September 1944, Page 3

HIGHER SALARIES ADVOCATED

AUSTRALIA LOSING “KEY ADMINISTRATORS”

SYDNEY, Sept. 21,

Australian Government departments are losing many key administrators to private industry because the salaries paid are not high enough. Widespread agitation is being made here for a general increase in the scale of salaries of public officials of responsibility. The New South Wales Director of War Organisation of Industry (Mr W. Ifould) said this week that he despaired of replacing with similarly capable men some of the officials he had lost. All the positions concerned should be paid at the rate of £2OOO a year at least, but the highest any of them commanded was £9OO.

Sir Howard Florey, co-discoverer of penicillin, reinforced these discussions on the subject of adequate remuneration by stating that unless the Commonwealth found more money for medical research Australia would continue to lose trained men to other countries.

“This ‘constant loss is not incurred in the medical field alone,” said the Sydney “Sun” editorially. “Australia suffers in every branch of research of the sciences, arts, and general culture because her best brains must seek abroad the recognition denied to them at home. It is largely due to the ‘basic wage’ outlook which puts the man who seeks a cure for cancer on the same economic level as the manual worker. When this fact is realised in Australia the best brains will no longer need to seek opportunity and recognition far from home.”