MURRAY RIVER

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17608, 26 October 1931, Page 12

MURRAY RIVER

CONSERVATION WORKS / MELBOURNE, Oct. 2. ' Tho Murray conservation works, which wore started about a quarter of a century ago, are still moving onward, and the commission,! which lias been presided over by a j dozen Ministers or so, still issues an- j mini reports, it was estimated just after the cenLury opened that the cost of the completed scheme would be. under £5,000,000. According to the j Federal Auditor-General, who has I given the usual accountancy certili- j cate, tho amount expended on con- j struetion since the inception of the j whole scheme amounts to £8,7117,1184. J This does not mean that the work Is inished. It lias years to go yet. A revised estimate made a long time ago predicted that £1.4,000,000 would ho ibsorbed, and, then there was no gunrinteo that the- amount would be final. Some details of wluit are called progn ss are. given in the annual re- ( port On March 111 last it was intimated to the constructing governnents that £705,000 would be required for the current financial year, but when this annual report closed at the md of June difficulties regarding finance rendered it impossible for the j governments to state what would be! provided. It is enthusiastically an- | aouriced in the report that some lock regulations were gazetted during the year, but it is not stated bow many millions this cost. About £472,000 was spent on works last year. But against this South Australia collected £ll4O in tolls, and distributed the amount among the contracting States. It helped to relieve the.total burden.