NORTH AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19417, 27 August 1926, Page 14

NORTH AUSTRALIA.

A NATIONAL PROBLEM. POTENTIAL NEW STATES. DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES. Tho problem of the population and development of North-Western Australia was recently commented on by Mr. Ed* ward A. Angelo 5 a member of the Western Australian Parliament, who has been visiting Sydney. He said it was not generally known that within seven days of Australia's northern shores lived 1,000,000,000 coloured people, who were increasing at the rate of 5,000,000 a year. "To show how really close to our shores these people are," Mr. Angelo said, "I have seen, on a voyage between Derby and Darwin, quite a number of Malay dhows, open boats of 30ft. in length, manned entirely by Malays, poaching for beche de mer and other marine products in' Australian waters. This only shows that there are no heavy seas to prevent even the smallest boats from reaching Australia. Some people say there is nothing to fear, but we have only to look back to tho history of Japan 50 years ago, when she was a nation untrained in Western naval and military tactics, and to compare her position today. "In my opinion, the North-West must bo populated in the next two decades, or we have a good chance of losing it for ever. It is a matter of Empire defence. The development and peopling of the North-West should hot be this concern of the State Government, but of the authority which has charge of our national defence. The present Western Australian Government and its predecessor have both admitted that the problem is beyond their resources and with this I agreu. There are big areas, containing magnificent soils, in the South, that are still undeveloped, and this herculean task should occupy the attention of any Government for years to come. Consequently no State Government can give to the North-West the attention it deserves. Further, it is impossible for a Government domiciled in tho South to know the needs of the far North." Federal Government's Offer. The Federal . Government recently offered, said Mr. Angelo, to take over the North-West in exchange for a sum of less than £3.000,000, which they claimed bad been spent on it by the' Western Australian Government.. This, practically meant that the State Government was to sell the northern portion of tho State for the sum named, and that the Commonwealth was to keep it for all time. This was a suggestion that no Western Australian Government could possibly entertain. Mr. Angelo advocated some months ago another scheme to allow the Commonwealth Government to take over that portion north of the 26th parallel, to be run as . a Commonwealth colony, but on the following conditions: — (1) The Commonwealth should undertake to spend a considerable sum each year on development apart from administration. (2) A small legislative body should be created of eight to ten, of which one-half would be nominees of the Commonwealth Government, being their own heads of departments, and the other half members elected by tho people of the North-went. The one half would provide the expert knowledge and the other the local knowledge. (3} The colony should send at least one member to tho House of Representatives, as the Northern Territory does. (4) A certain figure of population should be agreed upon before any agreement is made; and when the population reaches that figure it should automatically become a State, and have a Parliament with full powers. Mr. Angelo further suggested that, instead of one colony, the North-west should be divided into two colonies, one north of the 20th parallel and the other between ' the 20th and 26th parallels, because 'MC conditions in the two areas are totally different, the one being tropical and the other sub-tropical. Potential New States. Amplifying his scheme for the general development of the whole of Northern Australia, Mr. Angelo said he would now suggest that four such colonies should be created—two in. the north of West Australia, one in the Northern j Territory and one in North j With precisely the same conditions. This would mean undertaking the task, of peopling the whole of the North of Australia, instead of part of it, and would also create a healthy rivalry between the four, to sec which would be the first ,to get into the family circle. As regards the productivity of the North-west and its capacity for development Mr. Angelo was confident of the prospects in this direction from his own personal knowledge of the country. It contained several tropical rivers of from 500 to 600 miles in length, whose banks embraced somo of the finest soil in Australia, and there was extensive scope for irrigation. The Two New Divisions. Having appointed tho North Australia Commission, the Australian Federal Ministry is now proceeding further with its plans for the control of portions of the Northern Territory, Northern Queensland, and Northern Western Australia, to be known in future as Northern Australia and.. Central Australia. Applications are now being invited for the positions Of Government Resident of each of the two new divisions. The Government Resident of North Australia is to have hid headquarters at Darwin, and the appointment will be for five years at a salary of £9OO a year and an allowance of £75 a year in lieu of quarters. In the case of "Central Australia, the headquarters of the Government Resident will be at Alice Springs. The appointment wiU be for five years, at a salary of £750 a year, and an allowance of £75 in lieu of quarters.