VAST AUSTRALIA

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 290, 5 November 1934, Page 2

VAST AUSTRALIA

POTENTIALITIES OF COMMONWEALTH.

TRADE COMMISSIONER’S ADDRESS.

The steady development of the v a Commonwealth ot Austialn alon planned lines of agriculture and i dustry from the inrancy of n _ meut and tlie discovery ot its. po A * alities was made the subject ot an address to the Palmerston North Ro NeshßL who to recently arrived Stoner™ 1 Mw^t 1 CaSr 6 presided over a good attendance. ,wolnnTouclnng upon some ot the develop meiits of ihe Commonwealth,- Mi rses b.tt said that Armando discovered tiiere was a way round the C 1 Good Hope ia 1486, but it was left^to Tasman to determine that t such a land as Australia. Late C^ ap ' tain Cook found that 11 rw-iin for colonisation, and in ItBB G 1 Phillip brought out a colony of RAM souls in eleven ships to establish die city of Sydney. it was n « a T|y years later before Bass and Flinders explored the coast of Botany Bay 1 the eight-foot skiff Tom Ihumb. Sydney was hemmed in by a ring oi mountains 40 miles distant and > was not until 1805 that three, men blazed a trail across the Blue Mountains to the Bathurst plains. But for the discovery of these plains it was quite possible that the settlement would have been withdrawn Irom Sydney. FIRST SHEEP FLOCK. Merino sheep, numbering three rams and five ewes, were imported in 1i93 A few sheep which had previously been brought out were practically extinct. For the eight sheep a block of land was obtained at Parramatta. Later a grant of an attractive area ot land was given in the Camden district. Australia now had flocks totalling 113,000,000 sheep. Maearthur, the owner of the original flock, met with ous persecution, including Government opposition, hut in a few years he produced wool in quality equal to the best in Spain. Hobarttown was next established as a penal settlement after the discovery of Bass Strait. Three or four ships subsequently established Launceston, after the leader of these parties, Colonel Collins had reported unfavourably on Port Phillip and adjacent settlements. Collins Street in Melbourne was now named after him. So, in this manner, did the settlement of the ribbon of coastal land round Australia proceed. With large tracts of land practically unsuitable for settlement, Australia had been developed in other ways. Water conservation was an important Government policy. Water was taken up to a distance of 350 miles by pipes from one huge reservoir, and up to 250 miles from others bv open conduits. Rice was to-day being cultivated on land formerly arid, dusty and dry. THE LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM.

It was claimed by some that Australia was over-governed by its legislators, both Federal and State, numbering about 1500, the speaker added. Besides the Federal constitution, each State had its two Houses of Parliament. There were nearly 1100 local authorities in Australia. The Commonwealth governed fiscal policy, shipping, postal facilities and currency, the latter of which had steadily loomed larger in importance. Immigration, defence, Imperial and .foreign affairs, and control of mandated territories were other functions. Certain industrial matters had by referendum come under its jurisdiction. Federal and State industrial legislation, though appearing at times to be conflicting, would, with the removal of excrescences as they revealed_ themselves, settle down to more efficient working. Formerly a warmly debatable subject, the “White Australia” policy vns now an accepted tiling. Australia did not wish to have its systems of commerce, justice and industrialism, alter being developed on Australian-Bntish lines, undermined by nationals with different ideals. From forty-odd items, the Commonwealth policy ot tariff protection, now generally favoured, had extended t-o deal with over 000. There were divergences of opinion, however some maintaining that some _ot the tariffs were too high. Protection had given Australia a higher industrial standard. A permanent Tariff Board, travelling constantly throughout the Commonwealth, was always open to receive representations, and alvaAS iiad at- hand the latest data.

BACK TO PROSPERITY

Following upon the decision that certain suggestions maae by Sir Otto Kiemeyer were not acceptable, the Pieiniers’ Plan had been developed. Now in operation for five years, it had lifted Australia from the slough of despond, though it was not claimed that the depression was over. Protection had brought the establishment of factories by firms from England and America. When the Premiers’ Plan was first formulated the accumulated Federal and State deficits of Australia for that vear were £14,800,000. Next year the defic-'ency was estimated at £20,700,000, but with drastic revision and the application of the pruning knife this was reduced to £12,900,000. However, the actual deficit proved to be £18,400,000, making a total of £33,300,000 in new indebtedness for two years. Nevertheless, the Premiers’ Plan was working and next year the deficit was reduced to £8,000.000. The following year it was again reduced, and that tor the fiscal year ending in June, 1930, uas estimated at £5,000,000. That was what was called bringing business ability to bear in the Government of the country though it was not considered to he perfect. "Scientific application of the laws of economics by the Commonwealth Government had seen the restoration of pay cuts, reduction of tariffs and income tax, etc., and still a financial surPIUS ‘ YVOOL AND GOLD.

Wheat, wool, gold and banking were the main activities of Australia at present. The average cheque for the wool cliD was £35,000,000 in sterling. This industry was in the hands of a few. Fifty per cent, of the flocks came from holdings of 5000 head or less. The average flock, after allowing for big holdings, was 1200 sheep. Australia producer more than half of the world’s supplies of Merino wool to-dny Since the discovery of the first gold in Australia, concluded Mr Nesbitt, the Commonwealth had produced gold valued at over £650,000.000 sterling, mostly from West Australia. Since the beginning of the century these activities had steadily dwindled, but now, encouraged by a bounty and by the extension of industrial awards to mining, gold production was beginning to increase again, and its value had lately averaged £3.000,000 a year, the price of gold having reached a record level.

The speaker was accorded the customary vote of thanks on the motion of Mr W. E. Winks. Visitors welcomed were Messrs F. Campbell (Wellington), T. R. Hodder, H. F. Wilson, YV. H. Cadwallader and A. J. M. Goodwin (Palmerton North).