AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20536, 11 October 1928, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN NEWS

UNEMPLOYED IN QUEENSLAND. AMOUNT PAID IN DOLES. (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) BRISBANE, October 10. The annual report of the Quensland Unemployment Department reveals that ! the total paid last year in unemployment : doles was £343,000. i COMPULSORY ARBITRATION. THE SYSTEM A FAILURE. I BRISBANE, October 10. Mr William Brooks, in his presidential address at the Interstate Conference of Employers’ Federations, said that the compulsory arbitration system was an utter failure, and had resulted in cjiaotic conditions. It created artificial prosI perity and increases in the tariff to keep I pace with the inflated cost of production. The output generally had decreased, while the cost of production had increased. It had also fostered trade union autocracy, which placed itself above ne law. The only remedy was a reversion to to the good old principle of conciliation. NEW SOUTH WALES BUDGET. ! ESTIMATED SURPLUS. SYDNEY, October 10. ! (Received Oct. 11, at 0.5 a.m.) 1 Mr T. R. Bavin will deliver the State Budget this evening. It anticipates an increase of £600,000 to £700,000 from income taxation by the adjustmnt of the new rates to be announced in the Bill which will be presented to Parliament next month. It is estimated that there will be a surplus of £250,000. DIVORCE SUIT DISMISSED. SYDNEY, October 10. (Received Oct. 11, at 0.5 a.m.) The case in which George Henry Jackson sought a divorce on the grounds of his wife’s alleged misconduct with Gerald Ballantyne at Mina and Cheviot, New Zealand, ended, after a fortnight s hearing, in the dismissal of the petition. THE SCHOONER MARGARET W. A STORMY PASSAGE. SYDNEY, October 10. (Received Oct. 10, at 9 p.m.) The schooner Margaret W. has arrived from Gisborne. Captain Wachlin reports that the schooner had a stormy passage of 10 days, and 400 miles off the Australian coast she encountered a dust storm, the visibility being less than a mile in the day time while the dust lasted. BUSH FIRES IN QUEENSLAND. • COUNTRY ABLAZE FOR MILES. BRISBANE, October 10. (Received Oct. 10, at 9 p.m.) Bush fires are sweeping the main Toowoomba range, and 1000 acres were burnt out last night. The flames are spreading, and the Spring Bluff railway station and settlement are the centre of a fierce conflagration. The country is ablaze for miles alongside the line. THE FEDERAL SERVICES. REORGANISATION PROBABLE. CANBERRA, October 10. (Received Oct. 10, at 9 p.m.) The Public Service Board is making investigations with a view to reorganisation of the Federal services, members of which fear that the result may be a reduction of staffs and possibly rates of pay. THE AMENDED INCOME TAX. SYDNEY, October 10. (Received Oct. 11, at 1 a.m.) The Budget foreshadows financial reforms for reducing the taxation burden this year by over £1,000,000. The amended income tax will start at £250 for those without dependents. It is estimated that the revenue for the year will be £21,000,000, and the expenditure £20,766,000. The State public debt at June 30 amounted to £245,000,000, £1,300,000 of which will be extinguished j this year. j The Commonwealth Loan Budget, which is to be introduced separately later, will provide for an expenditure of over £14,000,000 during the current financial year, £4,500,000 of which will be for main roads. FREIGHTER ON A REEF. ASSISTANCE SENT. BRISBANE, October 10. (Received Oct. 10, at 11.45 p.m.) The freighter Kinross, laden with phosphates from Nauru for Melbourne, is stranded on the Cato Reef. The salvage tug Forceful is going to her assistance from Brisbane. THE KINROSS REFLOATED. BRISBANE, October 10. (Received Oct. 11, at 1.15 a.m.) The Kinross was refloated under her own power to-day, and should reach Cato Island to-morrow.