The Wanganui Chronicle. "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1922. AUSTRALIA’S “EMPTY NORTH.”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXVI, Issue 18430, 14 March 1922, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "Nulla Dies Sine Linea." TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 1922. AUSTRALIA’S “EMPTY NORTH.”

Apparently Australia has yet to discover how to turn the great “empty North” to profitable account. Twelve years ago the Federal Government took the Northern Territory off the hands of South Australia, and a scheme was prepared for the development of the country. An administrative machine with the millions of new population that would flow into the Territory. Any protest that it. might be better to know something more about the country before spending so much money on it was

merely a voice crying in the wilderness, and was probably frowned upon and scolded for the unpatriotic action of doubting the wonderful latent wealth of the “empty north.” It was not long until there was cause for confidence to be shaken. Somehow or other the scheme for developing and settling pie Northern Territory did not work. At the end of ten years it was obvious to the most slow-seeing that the whole business must- be written down an utter failure. By that time the Commonwealth had incurred a liability of nearly £7,000,000, and the population of the Northern Territory was less than it was when the Federal Government took it over from South Australia. The “Age” is responsible for the statemenj; that for the last three years no one has ventured any other opinion save that the Government has failed to do any good with the Territory. Not even the politicians responsible for the scheme of development have claimed for it the smallest measure of success in any direction. Yet in all these years, when failure has been obvious and admitted, not a finger has been lifted to stop the continuance of useless expenditure and evolve a new plan for doing what can be done with this great tract of tropical and sub-tropical land. The scheme that was evolved twelve years ago was prepared with a cheerful ignorance of the climate and resources of the country it was meant to fit. There was then very little reliable information about the Territory to guide the responsible administrators. It is remarkable to relate that the same state of affairs exists to-day. Although the Northern Territory has been prominent in public and political interest for the last twelve years, it is as much a land of contradictor}’ information and opinion as ever. One school that professes to speak with authority declares that the Territory is a Paradise of latent wealth. It draws a picture of a country that has only to be tickled with a rake or supplied with a railway, to smile into a harvest. Another school that professes to speak with equal authority describes the Northern Territory as, a desert of sand, upon which nothing grows and nothing could be made tc grow. One school draws great rivers on the map, the other school rubs them out. One school prates of mineral wealth, wonderful waterways and marvellous productivity. The other, referring as much to the information as to the climate, de scribes it all as “hot air.” A careful collation of all the “information” that has been made available about the Northern Territory during the last ten years would leave the seeker after the truth in a state of hopeless bewilderment. Australians simply do not know what the Northern Territory is, what it 'is suited to become and what method of development has the best chance of success. llt would seem, therefore, that the “Age” propounds a sound policy when it urges that the first step to preparing a plan for the future administration and development of the Northern Territory is to find out something about the Territory, what its potentialities really are, how its peculiar climatic conditions can be adapted for production. At present there is nothing but a babel of contradictory voices. WLat is wanted is one clear, definite, authoritative statement of fact, so that the public may know the nature of its asset and its responsibility, and so that the Government and Parliament may have some basis of solid fact upon which to construct a policy. In other words, there should be a thorough investigation of the Northern Territory, carried out in a businesslike and scientific manner by disinterested authorities. A body of this kind, should be commissioned with no other instructions save to find out the truth and report it fully and franklylo the Australian people, who would then have the basis for intelligent discussion of the problem, and perhaps gain relief from the constant reiteration of vague generalities that are uttered by politicians only to hide their ignorance or to push the barrow Bf political moneyspending proposals.