HOPEFUL AUSTRALIA

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1933, Page 7

HOPEFUL AUSTRALIA

SIR JAMES PARR’S COMMENTS FAVOURABLE PICTURE DRAWN. A rather favourable picture of economic conditions in Australia was drawn recently by Sir James Parr, Leader of the Legislative Council, who returned to Wellington on the Maunganui from Sydney. On account of .the . sudden illness of Lady Parr in Melbourne Sir James went to Australia two months ago. He has spent most of the time since then in that city. . While in Australia two or three things impressed him, Sir James said. In the first place the bankers, the business men, and the Ministers of the Crown with whom he had conversed were in a hopeful mood about the future. He admired the optimistic spirit of the Australian people. There really was not much talk about the depression; indeed, it seemed the unwritten law to avoid the subject and always to take an attitude of resilient hope. Perhaps New Zealanders should cultivate more of that spirit. VICTORIA’S POLITICAL TROUBLES. The Victorians, said Sir James, were solid and serious, not unlike the New Zealand temperament, but unfortunately the political situation in that State was unstable. The Government, was composed of a mixture of Nationalists and representatives of the Country Party, which in most other States really controls the political situation. In Victoria the partnership was now working smoothly, and the Country Party there had complained that its five members in the Coalition Cabinet were not exerting their influence to reduce the tremendous tariff. . The great cry of the farmer in Australia was for a reduction in tariff rates. A few weeks ago the Country Party had called upon its five members m Cabinet to resign, but later agreed to postpone for a time their withdrawal from the Government. The position, therefore, was very unUndoubtedly throughout Australia there was a growing resentment against the tariff, and that was the main reason for the huge vote cast by West Australia for secession from the Federation. The complaint was that the Federation favoured Victoria and New South Wales, the great manufacturing States, at the expense of the farmers and other people in smaller States. "There is considerable friction between the Federal Government and the State Governments,” eaid Sir James. “I think that eventually the Commonwealth may have to surrender some of its powers to the State Governments. That was also the opinion of some of the constitutional authorities over there, and New Zealand would do well to keep clear of union with Australia. The demands of the inral community for traiff revision have so far been defeated as the manufacturers are wonderfully organised and very influential with every Government”

As to unemployment in Australia, Sir James said that some States were appreciably reducing the numbers of their workless. For instance, Victoria in the past year had absorbed into industry over 20,000 of her unemployed, most of these going into factories. Of course the terrific tariff had kept alive many of her industries, and, while this increased costs for the consumer, on the other hand it gave wages to many thousands of people who otherwise would be drawing the dole.

An almost total absence of autumn rains over Australia and the consequent falling off in production, had caused grave fear of a drought, said Sir James. After three excellent years, when the continent had recuperated from the perilous financial position of 1929, meteorologists in the last few weeks had not been very hopeful of the future, although it was possible that there had been rain since he left “Whether Australia continues to make a substantial recovery depends on the rainfall in the next few months,” he said. “Should there be a drought it will throw the whole country seriously back.”