AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22742, 30 November 1935, Page 7

AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION

RESUMPTION , BEING URGED ADVANTAGEOUS FACTORS {From Odr Own Correspondent) SYDNEY, November 21. Signs are not lacking in Australia that it may not be long before a policy of assisted migration from Britain to this country is resumed, Migration was one of the first things on which the economy axe fell at the outset of the depression. A Labour Government was then in Power in Canberra, and that party has never been in love with assisted immigration. They set in such a policy more intensive competition for jobs, and consequent unemployment. But a changed Government and changing times and improving conditions are bringing a more friendly attitude to migration. There have even been hints throw out by members of the Federal Government that it might not be long before Australia’s doors are opened again to assisted immigrants. A revival of migration will depend ultimately on a continued improvement of economic conditions and consequential reduction of unemployment. There is strong evidence that neither of these factors will stand in the way of immigration. Another factor will he assistance which the British Government is likely to give. The last experiment of a largescale, constructive migration scheme just before the depression, was none too happy, and the Government may be chary of entering into new commitments. The latest suggestion is that markets for primary products may he used as a negotiating factor.. An ardent supporter of a migration revival is the ex-Premier of Victoria (Sir Stanley Argyle), who recently returned from a tour abroad. He sees danger to an Empire in which Britain is overcrowded and the dominions have territory which could not possibly be defended by their present populations. “ Without migration, neither we nor our children will be able to stop our territories going to a foreign Power,” he said, in a recent speech in Melbourne. “We cannot sit placidly by while a stupid, short-sighted policy deprives us of the heritage of our fathers. Have we lost the colonising and commercial spirit of our early settlers? We seem content to let the matter drift while there is a very real danger to us and even to the rest of the world.”

Sir Stanley Argyle said that if one half of the £1,000,000,000 spent to date by Great Britain on the relief of unemployment had been spent in making possible the transfer of people to the dominions, it would have altered the position considerably. He pointed out that the average British migration since 1914 was less by 3,000,000 and there were now 2,000,000 unemployed. It seemed that had the money been spent on migration, most of those unemployed would have been absorbed. Most of the insistence mi a resumption of migration from British people had come from members of the Labour Party. The opposite was'the position in Australia. The home market is another factor. It is evident that production in Australia has outstripped consumption. A larger population would mean more goods consumed both primary and secondary. The farming community has always favoured migration. A new development is that the secondary industries are swinging into line with the primary producers. At the Chamber of Manufactures dinner here this week, nearly all the speakers emphasised Australia’s need of population. The Min-

ister for Customs (Mr White) said that the case being put forward by landhungry nations for freer access to raw materials was a challenge to Australia. Prosperity in Australia would attract artisans from Britain and Europe, who would be assets not only because they would reduce overhead expenditure in the general development of the country and the service of the national debt, but also as consumers of primary products. The Premier of New South Wales (Mr Stevens) said that expansion of the primary industries required either an increased home market or new markets overseas. The expansion of the home market could only be brought about by an increase of population. The president of the Chamber of Manufactures (Mr Kneeshaw, M.L.C.) said that Australia’s outstanding problem was that of an adequate population. The president of the Chamber of Commerce (Mr Roland Clarke) declared that Australia must not only have thousands but millions of more people. Senator Leckie (honorary treasurer of the Victorian Chamber of Manufacturers) said:— “ Unless we get more population there is the possibility that some ‘bully’ will come here and take what he wants.” It is sometimes recalled here that the famous statesman. Sir Henry Parkes, at the centenary celebrations- in 1883 prophesied that at the end of Australia’s second century she would have a population of 60,000,000. That looks like one of those statesmen’s prophecies that go astray. Nearly half of the second century has gone. We have little more than a tenth of that 60,000,000. The figure now aimed at is from 25,000,000 to 30,000,000. Economic experts practically all agree that that is the utmost Australia can hope for.