IN AUSTRALIA

Evening Star, Issue 22988, 20 June 1938, Page 11

IN AUSTRALIA

JHE WIDE OPEN SPACES WHY THEY REMAIH EMPTY POPULATIOH ERRORS All the political leaders in Australia are devoting more and' more attention to the question of immigration, and chiefly British immigration; and Mr Lyons, with the elections successfully behind him, is now putting forth proposals for assisted immigration from this country, writes R. W 7 G. Macbay, in. the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ In a statement which he issued recently he said: “ If, we are to hold our_ heritage we must people and develop it.” Mr Stevens went further when he _said that a systematic scheme of. immigration was necessary “ in the interests of the country’s economic progress.” Lord Gowrie, the Governor-General, gave voice to what may be termed an Englishman’s view when he said that “ greedy eyes are turned on this great undeveloped country of Australia.’’ and the learned Attorney-General, Mr.Menssies, has been reported as speaking about “ creating a population of 20 millions by a vigorous migration policy.” Finally, while no one recently has talked seriously of the “ wide open spaces, - ’ the Australian Government has made no secret of its desire that the population should be increased in the interests of defence. FOOLIISH UTTERANCES. However laudable all these expressions may be, if any serious policy of immigration is to be adopted by the British and Australian Governments a critical examination should be made as to _ both the objectives and the possibilities of any probable scheme. And it is timely that the Australian Institute _ of Political Science should have published a series of essays on this subject— ‘ The Future of Immigration Into Australia and New Zealand ’ —which show clearly the fallacies of many foolish utterances and which raise many a question for the politician.' Is the country really undeveloped? Is immigration necessary for its economic progress? Could a population of 20 millions be achieved within a reasonable time? And would immigration materially assist the problem of defence? The conception of the boundless and undeveloped resources of Australia is, of course, very wide of the mark. With the exception of opportunities for growing wool and wheat, Australia is poor in minerals and raw materials in comparison with tho United States of America, Brav.il, Argentina, Russia, or any other country of similar size. The expanse of its land surface is in itself a handicap, nearly one-half of it being as arid ami unproductive as the Sahara Desert and the fertile land confined almost entirely to the coastal regions. NORTHERN TERRITORY. If. the so-called " coveted ” Northern Territory bad the climate and soil of, say, Java, it. would have had a dense population centuries ago. The fact that, despite many' attempts at cultivation, it is still undeveloped only suggests what is the fact—that the fertility aud fabulous possibilities are mythical. The comparison with America even in the field of elementary geography soon throws these considerable areas “ suitable for settlement ” in their proper perspective. In area the two countries are almost identical, but there the similarity ends. Two-fifths of Australia lie within the Tropics, but America lies quite outside. Only one-third of Australia has a rainfall of over 20in annually, but America has two-thirds with that rainfall. Another third of Australia receives less than lOiu of rainfall annually, while in America it is lefts than oue-teuth. It

is for these reasons that settlement in Australia is confined to the coastal regions, and that within the limits of the knowledge we have it is unlikely that the regions for settlement will be extended or that the resources of the country are such as are likely to provide a sudden or large increase in the population. DEFENCE QUESTION. While the idea of immigration for defence may appeal to the patriot and the empire-builder, it is also only a little less wide of the mark. Australia has known two periods of heavy immigration—example, as one critic puts it, “ of its boa-constrictor habit of bolting the immigrants and then resting to digest them.” In th« five years from 1881 to 1885 the largest net immigration into Australia took place, ana amounted in all to 224,000. In 1921-25, the next largest period, the total was only 183,000. Obviously two or three decades must elapse before Australia could increase her population even by 1,000,000, and it is doubtful if the invader would be more deterred because in the meantime the population has risen from 6,500,000 to 7,500,000 people. If numbers are a large factor in defence it will be many years before immigration can provide much assistance in this respect. But numbers to-day are not the only consideration. If the recent wars in Abyssinia, Spain, and China serve as a guide, they show that troops are comparatively useless unless they are equipped with aeroplanes, gas, heavy artillery, machine guns, tanks, motors, and other forms of mechanical transEort. Defence does not rest on Burners, even if they could be obtained, and for the defence of Australia there must be a highly developed, widely diversified, and highly efficient economy, And, despite the forced development of her secondary industries, this stage has not yet been realised. ECONOMIC PROGRESS. In turning from defence to the economics of the question one has to consider whether, as Mr Stevens would have people believe, the country’s economic progress depends almost entirely upon a systematic scheme of migration. During the nineteenth century this was no doubt true, and even where development followed from the discovery of gold this in turn led to a renewed and increased! flow of immigrants from this country. But the" world position is considerably different to-day. To the extent to which the economic progress of Australia depends in the future (as it has in the past) on the economic development of the European countries and the free trade of the world, the outlook is black indeed, and with it the outlook for immigration. It is significant that whereas in the first decade after the war Australian Governments borrowed in the London market

£30,000,000 a year, since 1931 there has been no public borrowing at all except for conversion purposes. And with the stoppage in the flow of money naturally has come a stoppage in the flow of people. _ If the economic future of Australia depends on the development of her own internal market and exchange of goods and services (whatever doubts there may be about its representing progress) there can be no doubt that such a future will not encourage immigration on the scale of last century, or of any number like it. RAW MATERIALS. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the supplies of food and raw materials of the world were inadequate. During the early part of last century exploration revealed large areas with sparse populations such as Australia eminently suitable for the development of wheat, meat, and wool supplies; and it was natural that there should be a broad stream both of men and of money in order to develop these agricultural potentialities for the Western world. It was this demand for wool, wheat, and meat which caused immigration to Australia. Furthermore, at the same time the industrial revolution and the expansion of machine production made it all the more necessary to provide raw materials and food for the manufacturing countries of the Old World. This provided a further incentive for large-scale migration to such countries as Australia and New Zealand. If more food supplies are wanted by Europe from Australia during this century, then there may bo migration to that country, but the tendency is the other way. The present policies of restriction and quotas are unlikely to increase the demand. Furthermore, of the raw materials uiich are in demand, apart from wool, for which there is now a substitute, Australia has little, if any, to supply. If more gold is wanted by the Western world we may have an exodus of immigrants to Kalgoorlie, or even Bendigo, but if the demand is for manufactured goods, as it is, then will not the populations of Chicago, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, and the other large manufacturing towns of the world be more likely to increase than those of Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide? In short, the factors which led to large-scale migration to Australia in the last half of the last century do not operate to-day, and so no large-scale migration is likely to take place. A short appreciation of the facts shows that if there are great spaces in the vast continent of Australia there are also good reasons, both geographical and economic, for their being both open and empty.