VAST IDLE AREAS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21552, 25 July 1933, Page 6

VAST IDLE AREAS

AUSTRALIAN HOPES I NORTHERN TERRITORY I ■ / DREAM OF THE FUTURE 1 [from our own correspondent] SYDNEY. July 20 ; Great interest has been shown in the hnnouneement of the Federal Govern- / ment's policy for the development of the vast Northern Territory which today is almost unpopulated. Time and // again experts have expressed the viewthat this great area of tropical and Bemi-tropical country had a great future before it, but so far nothing has happened to suggest that there was any Bound foundation for these predictions. Millions of pounds of public money have been spent within the Territory lor no return whatever. Private enterprise has nibbled at the Territory, and the 1 kibbling has been to its sorrow. Labour troubles have done more than anything ' else to brins about failure after failure, and it would seem that the majority K of tho men who have settled at Daryin prefer to live on the beneficence / of tho Federal Government. Whenever " they get a job they complain about the labour conditions until tho job itself is abandoned. //, Everybody applauds the decision of ibe Government to leave the development of the Territory to private f nterprise, but people are wondoring whether /there will be a chartered company brave enough to face the risks that have been the undoing of all that have /preceded it. It is at last recognised that governmental development is impossible, because of the ever-changing I Governments, but there is nothing to prevent the present Government from granting a charter to a private company - that will remain unaltered through tho years. Of course, it would have to bo a water-tight agreement, especially as tho Labour Party is so bitterly opposed to any scheme of this J nature. To tho Labour Party the concessions proposed are breath-taking. No Government Outlay ' The complexity of the problem will /fentail long negotiation, but the Government believes that it will bo possible to overcome all difficulties fairly readily because of the liberal basis on which I it is prepared to work. The Government will assist by all the means in its power the establishment of a chartered company with a sound constitu- / tion to operate in the territory that .will be allotted to it. I It is to be clearly defined, however, that the Government will decline to be ij financially interested in, or be committed to, any financial outlay in connection with the formation or operation of tho company or companies. The / Government will facilitate the activities of the companies by granting special land tenures, by certain exemption from taxation, and by special tariff (concessions, but that will be the limit ,to which it will go. It was first believed that the whole Of the Territory could be managed by one company, but this is now regarded as impracticable. It is pointed out that /.with the big holdings there would be a great variety of interests, suggesting that two companies at least would be necessary. At any rate, the Government will be glad to hear from two I companies instead of only one, and is prepared to divide the area accordingly. Large Capital Required 1 Experts say that tho greatest difficulty is not in .the power of a chartered company to make a success of the development of the Northern Territory, but in the power of anyone to achieve the formation of a company. The capital required would be £25,000,000 or £30,000,000, and as no dividends aro likely until the end of at least 15 years, Ht is hard to comprehend how the necessary capital will be attracted. Although he is by no means optimistic about the formation of the companies, Mr. J. B. Cramsie, an authority on the meat industry and a man who knows Australian conditions better than most, says he is able to visualise the development of tho Northern Territory under the charter company plan. /He lived for 13 years on the fringe of the Territory in Central Queensland, . and he knows the possibilities. The great empty wastes, he says, would be quickly converted into, vast cattle nuns, with railways, meat works and other factories beckoning for an ever-growing / population. Mr. Cramsie said, he was convinced that the companies scheme was best for the Territory, and that under it the jirea would be improved almost to tho maximum as far as the carrying of horned stock w r as concerned. The number of stock, he thought, would be increased by five times its present number by the end of 20 years. Land-hungry people might find their great oppor- ■ tunity in the north, for the company, for its own benefit, would subsidise subsidiary industries. There would be a development of tropical agriculture such /as sugar cane and oil plants and tho establishment of the fishing industry. Tentative OSer Received It is understood that the Government has already received a tentative offer from one important group that js prepared to open negotiations. No decisions would be reached hurriedly &nd the Government would bo prepared to discuss every point with the excep- . tion of, one, namely, the maintenance of the White Australia policy. That policy will remain unaltered. The success of the Government plan will depend very largely upon the attitude of Vestevs, Limited, which is one of the most important groups with an interest in the Territory. Most of tho Vestev leases do not expire until 1965. Ro far the Government has not been approached by Vestevs, but it is stated that preliminary conversations will bo tarried out in London.