BAIT FOR MIGRANTS

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 August 1946, Page 4

BAIT FOR MIGRANTS

AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION BOOKLET LAUGHTER IN PARLIAMENT SYDNEY, July 31. Extracts from a booklet, issued by the Federal Department of Information, entitled, “Australia and Your Future,” were quoted in the House of Representatives by Dame Enid Lyons (Tasmania). Dame Lyons asked the Minister of Information, Mr. A. A. Calwell, if the booklet had been published with a specific intention to attract migrants. She asked if the Minister considered the following statements from the booklet to be a fair presentation of fact. “That twenty-two shillings per week rental will provide a comfortable, unfurnished home for a man, his wife and three children. That twelve oranges cost 1/6. That green peas cost 8d per pound. That women’s best shoes cost £l/0/8 per pair and that ordinary shoes cost 18/lid. That women’s ready-made frocks cost £l/7/4 if of cotton, and £l/7/8d if of artifical silk.” Other extracts included: “A wife can be adequately clothed for £l2/8/2 yearly; a boy of 104 years for £9/18/4, and a girl of seven for £B/19/The reading of these items by Dame Lyons was accompanied by roars’of laughter from the Opposition. Mr. Calwell said ‘ that this booklet had been published under his authority, and that the information had come from a Statistician’s office, and dealt with normal conditions.