RAILWAY TO DARWIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21359, 7 December 1932, Page 8

RAILWAY TO DARWIN

SPANNING AIISTBALIA EXPENDITURE OF £15,000,000 RECENT PROPOSAL OUTLINED A memorandum supplied by the promoters of the scheme for the construction of a transcontinental railway line from Bourke, New South Wales, to link up with the Darwin railway, states that the full cost of the scheme would be about £15,000,000, says the Sydney Morning Herald. Powerful London interests, it is stated, are prepared to finance the construction of the line, provided the Federal Government guarantees a bond issue on terms to be agreed upon and grants a 66-year lease over not more than 40,000 square miles of land in the Northern Territory, and allows the company to acquire freehold rights over an area of nob more than 200,000 acres of land in Northern Australia. A 99-year lease of either Melville or Bathurst Island, or both, is also, sought. The project is being considered' by the Federal Ministry. The memorandum states :

The effective settlement and development of the resources of the Northern Territory is a problem of outstanding national importance. The unoccupied condition of vast areas of country capable of producing abundant wealth is a continued reproach to the Commonwealth. It is not suggested that the whole of the money spent on the territory has been wasted. Much has been done to reveal its manifold resources, but its valuable potentialities must be immediately exploited. Production and Defence Beyond the importance of this proposal from the point of view of production there is the higher ground of its necessity as a means of providing facilities for our national defence. The rapid transit of military stores and equipment, and the speedy transhipment of soldiers from the centres of population to Darwin, demand alike the construction of a standard-gauge, railway to the system of New South Wales, and a, route from New South Wales through Queensland to the Territory. . The Government has intimated that it is willing to allow the Territory to be developed by private enterprise, and, with that end in view, preliminary discussions have been carried on for some time past with the Government and with certain very powerful contracting interests in London. The tentative estimates prepared here show that the line will cost approximately. £15,000,000, and will take approximately three to five years to complete. If an agreement can be arranged, and the proposed railway construction be entered upon in a very vigorous manner, many thousands of men of all trades will be immediately employed in construction, manufacture of materials and equipment, and the secondary industries will benefit equally with our primary industries. Our numbers of unemployed will 'oe greatly reduced for the next three to five years, doles and other social services will decline, and trade will be stimulated and stabilised by the proposal being brought to a successful conclusion. Conditions of Construction The London interests definitely intimate that, provided the Government will guarantee a bond issue on terms to be agreed upon, and will make available on a reasonable basis territorial concessions for developmental purposes, they will construct and finance the completion of the line. The present negotiations further contemplate that during the currency of the bond issue the line may. be run by private enterprise or ptherwise. In a letter the Minister for the Interior asks for a comprehensive plan to be submitted and states that Cabinet is impressed with the suggestions and with the personnel of the group. The proposals in general outline arenas follows: —To undertake to carry ouT:— (a) The increasing of the existing 3ft 6in. gauge railway to the standard 4ft. B£in. between Darjyin and Birdun and the wharf at Darwin, a distance of approximately miles, and provide any additional wharfage accommodation that may be found necessary, (b) The construction of the railway from Birdun to Bourke on a standard gauge of 4ft. B£in., a distance of approximately 1561 miles, (c) The provision of all rolling stock and other equipment necessary for the maintenance and operation of the railway from Darwin to Bourke, approximately 1677 miles, (d) The maintenance and operation, if desired, of the. railway from Darwin to Bourke from the date of completion of the whole line under such conditions and for such period of years as shall fas agreed upon with the Commonwealth Government. Territorial Concessions The territorial concessions to be asked for, also in general outline, are as follows : The Federal Government to grant to the company under special conditions a total leasehold area not exceeding 4Q.000 square miles of country to be selected by the company from the resumable portions of pastoral leases in the Northern Territory, or from available vacant Crown lands, or from the existing leases by purchase by the company from the lessees. Such lands to be granted-to the company on a 66 years' lease, with reservations, covenants, and provisions as in the existing Lands Ordinance, except that, there shall be no resumption rights by the Federal Government except for the construction and provision of public utilities in regard to transport and communications; and further, the rental in regard to lands shall be at the rate of 5s per square mile, and no reappraisement during the currency of the leases. The Federal Government to grant to the company full rights to acquire an area not exceeding 200,000 acres of freohold land from vacant Crown lands, or by transfer from existing leases of pastoral or agricultural lands within the boundaries of Northern Australia,' in one or more separate areas as may be desired. The company to have full rights, powers and privileges to utilise such land or lands for the following industries, etc. Creation of townships and villages; intensive cultivation and irrigration; mixed farming and dairying; tropical and sub tropical agriculture; pastoral; mining; fisheries; the erection and operation of factories, etc., in connection with any of the above industries; the construction and operation of any works, etc., necessary for the conservation and reticulation of water for irrigation, power and domestic purposes and full water rights in connection with same; any other purposes or industries that may be mutually agreed upon bv the Federal Government and the com-. pany. Melville and Bathurst Islands The area of Melville Island is approximately 2100 square miles. The area of Bathurst Island is approximately 600 square miles. These two islands are situated about 50 miles north of Darwin. Experts' opinion has been expressed that these two islands can .be made suitable for the following:—lntensive tropical cultivation; tropical and sub-tropical agriculture; dairying and pig-raising, with the establishment of butter and bacon factories; the establishment of fisheries and the erection of factories for the treatment of all products from such fisheries, including turtle and all marine products It is proposed that the Commonwealth Government, subject to.the rights of existing leases, shall grant to the company a 99 years' lease of one or both of these two islands, to enable the company to j establish, conduct, and place on a permanent footing such industries as are mentioned above. The personnel of the group carrying on the proposal is as follows: —Sir Graham Waddell, Messrs. Sydney Snow, J- «• Cramsie, G. A. Holder, Keith Will' ajnS ' secretary, Mr. T. D. Mutch.