The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, November 25, 1942. AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE.

Grey River Argus, 25 November 1942, Page 4

The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, November 25, 1942. AUSTRALIA’S FUTURE.

Even should the proposals for an increase of the Federal Parliament’s powers be not entirely acceptable to the convention now deliberating- at Canberra, the delegates will in the majority be probably disposed to regard many of them favourably. It must be generally conceded that the Commonwealth Government is in this matter as forward-looking an administration as it has proven in the conduct of Australia’s war effort. . Among the matters involved—and the changes, beingconstitutional, will require endorsement by referendum —are the relations between the Federal and State governments, the making of agreements with other nations, the negotiating of peace terms at. the end of the war, land reconstruction in Australia, after the war. That the measure in view is far-reaching may be judged by a fear, to which it is said to have given rise that, one effect might even be the Abolition of the State governments. There are certainly many Australians who, if it were a case of choosing between such a thing and a continuance of the present thirteen legislative chambers at their present cost to the country, would prefer to sec but one Parliament. At. anyrate, the very initiative of the Federal Government now goes to show that in general th.e tendency is for the States to lag in this respect, and for the national administration to shoulder the more pressing of the new burdens entailed by national development. Such a change entails financial readjustment to enable it to he implemented. Income, like customs taxation since the war has become entirely a Federal function, and it ought so to remain. But there arc a hnsd c.f things in regard to which inter-State jealousies and incompatibilities dictate concentration of initiative and power in the h'ederal legislature and adininistrhtion. The war itself has compelled' such a concentration. T)r Evatt, the Attorney General, who Jias framed the Bill, has in view the making of this transition into a permanent one. He ami the Government doubtless will be disposed to negotiate, and will refrain from a purely dictatorial attitude, first because some critics fear a potential dictatorship, nnd secondly because 1 hey fear, if it spread, would .render the result ol the referendum once again as negative as those of past referenda in Australia. Leaving aside international aspects—and only time will fully reveal the. alterations these may be destined to assume, such as relations, 'say. with the United States and the states of the British* Common-

wealth—it is admitted by tliiiikei’.s outside Labour ranks that Australians must plan to double her population as soon as she can, and must give to her greater iPopulatfon a better standard of housing, 'education and health conservation, as . well as greater ihcilities for industrial and agytcultural development, facilities which, while amplified with necessary credit, shall’ not issue in monopoly, but rather in far more widely-spread ownership. It may reasonably be'claimed that New Zealand has in more than one, respect offered an example during the past six or seven years for Australian emulation.. So much jnay be inferred from the Prime" Minister, Mr. Curtin’s intimation that a quarter of a million new homes require construction as part of the post-war programme. Nothing has stood out during the past year more warningly for Australia, and in a degree for this country, than the danger run through under-popula-tion. Countries where pressure of population is vastly greater east a greedy eye in our direction. Good housing is certainly a. prime requisite for a strong, healthy nation, and it is interesting to note how the New Zealand venture in this matter now enjoys the commendation, not only of the pominion Town Planning Institute, but of the press and public alsoIt may be very desirable that all housing enterprises should not be left to the State, but it certainly is best able to give a. lead towards a general improvement. Planned production and marketing . are mentioned in Australia as fields for Commonwealth initiative, and it is obvious, even, though control may initially have failed to 'cheapen commodities stabilised prices are as necessary for producers as are reasonable prices and quality for consumers. In other words, competition calls as loudly for regulation as many other matters contemplated in the proposed Australian constitutional changes. The upshot- of the present convention will be watched with wide interest and it may serve to govo New Zealanders ideas as to the solution of approaching postwar problems.