Mr BLAIN (Northern Territory) . - In part 3 of the schedule there is a sub-division d under the heading of Territories of the Commonwealth, which refers to developmental services, and I should like to know from the Minister what it is proposed to do in this way. For the last five years I have been trying to induce the Government to embark upon an active policy of development for the Northern Territory, and I thought that at last I had succeeded. Now, however, I am amazed to see that only £13,900 has been provided for developmental services. This Government, and the previous Government, went to a great deal of expense to have an economic survey made of the territory and the money expended in that way will have been more or less wasted unless the survey is followed up by developmental work. This proposed vote is a gratuitous insult to Messrs. Payne and Fletcher, who prepared the report, and to the previous Minister for the Interior, the honorable member for Indi (Mr. McEwen), who formulated a policy for the active development of the territory, and was about to apply it when he vacated office. I shall have an opportunity to explain in my own electorate why that programme has not been gone on with, but the honorable member for Indi will have no such opportunity. In accordance with the recommendation of the Payne report, a lands officer, a very capable man, was appointed to Alice Springs. When I was 'there in March last, this officer was champing at the bit because no money had been placed at his disposal with which to assist settlement.. I had been assured by the present Minister for the Interior (Senator; Foll) that some tens of thousands of pounds would be made available with which to establish dumps of wire and posts for the subdivision of cattle country into areas suitable for the running of sheep.
Sitting suspended from 12.45 to 2 p.m.
Mr BLAIN - I was referring to the manner in which the honorable member for Indi appears to have been let down by this Government in not allowing his developmental policy to . operate in the Northern Territory. I do not know just what was embodied in his report - I perhaps shall never know - but I presume that his recommendations have been emasculated. The people take notice of deeds more than words, and no doubt their criticism of this Government will be caustic, in view of the fact that the former Minister for the Interior, who promised them so much, was allowed to do so little, and in view of the meagre amount that has been placed on the Estimates for developmental services in the territory. * What does the amount of £13,900 for developmental works mean? The small settlers in Central Australia were looking forward to a new era. They had reason to do so when after four years' representation by me a very highly-qualified man was appointed as lands officer. But that officer feels that he has been let down. He was intrigued to accept the position and to do so left a high post in New South Wales. Naturally, as he is an official, I have not been in communication with him, but I feel that he must be squirming under the injustices from which I am told he is suffering. I ask the Treasurer (Mr. Menzies) to review this and to see if a worthwhile amount of money cannot be spent on a developmental policy in the north, so that we may retain this officer. Good officers cannot be retained for long if they have not the money with which to express themselves in a real developmental policy.
Mr McHugh - The Minister for the Interior should live up there for a good part of the year.
Mr BLAIN - Of course he should. . It is a misnomer to call him the " Minister for the Interior ", and the department " the Department for the Interior ". Ho should be called the "Minister for this and that ", and the department should be similarly named. Obviously, when the blue pencil was being put through the budget after the outbreak of hostilities, the vote for the Northern Territory was one of the first items that was attacked. None the less, I believe that the developmental programme outlined in the Payne-Fletcher report should have been inaugurated long before the outbreak of war.
Going further north, I come to Tennant Creek. Wondering how Tennant Creek would fare under this budget, a few days ago, I wired the warden, Mr.
Kelly, for information as to the way in which the Tennant Creek miners are being overcharged at the government battery. His reply disclosed an amazing state of affairs. I shall read it -
Yours to-day original charge ore assaying 18 dwts. was 90 percentage of total ore crushed plus twelve and six per ton plus deduction of three cwts. per ton. Present charges on 18 dwt. ore is 90 percentage of total ore crushed less two dwts. from assay value less twenty-five per cent, of remainder. Regards.
This sort of thing occurs in the name of development.
Mr McHugh - What does it work out at?
Mr BLAIN - At £3 18s. a ton. The policy in South Australia is totally different. The South Australian Government welcomes taking 40 per cent, of the cost of treatment onto its own shoulders, for it knows that in producing gold the State derives benefit, not .only because it keeps men in employment and spreads business enterprise, but also because gold helps in the making of our overseas payments. Surely there are more cogent reasons why the Commonwealth should welcome taking a similar responsibility.
Mr McHugh - The Richards Labour Government liberalized the Mining Act of South Australia.
Mr BLAIN - Yes. I draw that analogy to show that 7.3 dwt. from a parcel of ore showing 18 dwt. is mulcted from the miner at Tennant Creek. It is incredible.
Mr McHugh - What about the conditions of the miners?
Mr BLAIN - I have dealt with that subject on many occasions. Ministers of the Interior have all been there and they know all about that. There is a former Minister for the Interior, the honorable member for Gippsland (Mr. Paterson) seated in front of me now. He knows all about it. Nevertheless, there are some places that they do not see, Hatchett's Creek, for instance. That is a barbaric place, with the look of a fowlshed. The amenities of life at Tennant Creek in the main street are not consistent with the conditions a few miles south off the main road.
When the honorable member for Indi was Minister for the Interior, a road train was instituted in the Northern Territory. It was imported from South Africa for military purposes in the Northern Territory, and it was intended to solve the transport problem. I have consulted my constituents, large and small land-owners, and they would all prefer, instead of this road train, which goes through the district only once every three or four months, diesel trucks, because they know that they would get thereby a more frequent service. I do not decry what was done by the honorable member for Indi; I congratulate him for trying to do what he was not allowed to do, and repeat my belief that his proposals were emasculated in the Cabinet room. When that road train is outworn, as it must almost be, I recommend that it be replaced by diesel trucks. Because the Government has refused to subsidize the small boats from Darwin to these areas, and has confined transport development to the provision of road trains, people living in the far northern areas around the Gulf of Carpentaria, at Booraloola, in the Kimberleys, and in the Victoria River district, are obliged to take in stocks of flour, sufficient to last for periods up to six months. In that humid area flour will not keep for long periods, because it rapidly deteriorates and becomes infested with weavils. It is high time that these areas received more adequate transport services. I am voicing - an appeal on behalf of the hardy pioneers who, with their wives and families, have taken up holdings in remote areas, and have cut themselves off from the amenities of civilization.
Proceeding further in an attempt tu elucidate the purposes of this grant of £13,900, I realize that the money could not .possibly be for use in connexion with the geophysical survey. As the Government has already spent £150,000 on such a survey, a sum so small as £13,900 would make no appreciable difference and would not last long with this spendthrift government.
Proceeding still further north, we come to Newcastle Waters. Possibly the money is to be spent on developmental services for stations in that vicinity. I think, however, that that explanation can also be discarded for the reason that, many years ago, the Government put down a line of bores from Wave Hill through Newcastle Waters to the Queensland border. That line was installed almost solely for the purpose of serving two stations, particularly the Vestey interests. It is a joke to see a government staff at Newcastle Waters devoting most of its time to a furtherance of the interests of Vestey Limited, which is able to send cattle into Queensland in order that they may be used whenever necessary to depress the prices of beef whenever the exporters wish to purchase fat stock for shipment overseas. That is a. problem which the honorable member for Darling Downs (Mr. Fadden), the honorable member for Wide Bay (Mr. Corser),, and the honorable member for Maranoa (Mr. Hunter), will have seriously to consider before long. It will be interesting to note their reaction.
Proceeding again further north, we arrive at Darwin, and that is where we find money being indiscriminately spent on fantastic schemes. I. am afraid thai this £13,900 will not go very far in Darwin, because, instead of carrying out developmental works of an essential character, such as the provision of housing accommodation for people who are not members of the Public Service, the Government is wasting huge sums on unnecessary undertakings.
Mr Brennan - What are the fantastic schemes to which the honorable member refers ?
Mr BLAIN - It is proposed, for instance, to spend £60,000 on the erection of new administrative offices. That money could be more usefully devoted to the development of the Adelaide and Katherine River districts. I understand a scheme for the erection of an aboriginal compound at the cost of £40,000 has been abandoned. Apparently the unfortunate aborigines have to be content to live in their bark gunyahs. I have on many previous occasions opposed the needless expenditure which is being indulged in by the Government in Darwin, and I wish once more to register a vigorous protest against that policy. To-day I gave evidence before the Public Works Committee in connexion with the erection of new administrative offices, and I hope that my recommendations will be given full consideration. Members of that committee should realize the seriousness of their job.
Mr Brennan - Does the Government recognize the fact that the honorable member is the representative of that area?
Mr BLAIN - That is a question that is being asked by many of my technical friends, such as engineers and surveyors. It would seem that the greater the knowledge which one possesses of one's own electorate the less inclined is the Government to take one's views into consideration. That is especially true of a wasteful bureaucratic government such as this. I regret that I am not a member of the Public Works Committee. I would be willing to give my services free as a member of that body. It is interesting tu note, however, the meticulous care taken to make sure that I am not a member of it.
I am wondering whether the developmental services mentioned in this bill inferred to the establishment of the cotton industry in the Katherine River district, and to the fostering of the production of other products such as soya beans, tobacco, and sisal hemp. The whole of the vegetables required for the Darwin defence forces could be grown around Darwin if the matter were tackled properly. I have ascertained, however, from a. senior officer of the department that there is no intention to appoint a tropical agricultural expert to the Northern Territory. Interest is being taken only in the growing of grass because of the influence which is brought to bear by such people as Vesteys Limited, who claim that the Northern Territory is fit only for cattle-raising. The appointment of an agricultural superintendent at Darwin is being consistently delayed, and half of the growing season will have elapsed before anything is done. I say here and now, that the Government has no intention whatever of appointing a man trained in the tropics to that- position, and I challenge a contradiction of that statement. The Commonwealth Government should follow the excellent lead set in Queensland, where the Minister for Agriculture is himself an expert, and has surrounded himself with a well-trained agricultural staff including tropical agriculturists. Queensland has no less than 24 field stations, and the Government of that State has had the wisdom to send officers to Singapore, and other tropical centres, for training. Such was the case with Dr. Kerr, who is one of the best qualified agriculturists in Australia. Queensland also trains field experts at its own agricultural station. If the Commonwealth Government cannot devise its own schemes, surely it can follow the example set by the Queensland Government. The agricultural problems of the Northern Territory are even greater than those of Queensland. I am hopeful that a comprehensive scheme for the agricultural development of the Northern Territory will be introduced, and that a superintendent of agriculture will be brought from New Guinea, where there are many highly qualified officers with a thorough knowledge of tropical agriculture. I am waiting to see if an interest is to be taken in the growing of cotton in the Katherine River district. The seed has already been sent up there by boat. Government officers so humbugged and delayed this matter that, without waiting for government action, the seed has been sent to the farmers, who will endeavour to grow cotton in spite of what the attitude of this Government may be. I appeal to the Minister representing the Minister for the Interior to see if some assistance cannot be given by the Government to the cotton industry in the Northern Territory in the same way as assistance has been given in Queensland. All that is required is a one-strand ginning plant at Darwin. No attempt has been made to utilize the vast potentialities of the Katherine River. There is an ample supply of cheap diesel oil in Darwin. It is sold to the pearlers at the paltry price of 4d. a gallon, and if they take it outside the 3-mile limit they get it for about1d. a gallon. The establishment of diesel engine plants along the Katherine River would greatly facilitate the cotton industry there. Possibly that is what the Minister has in mind in making available £13,900 under this bill, or perhaps he merely intends to send an anthropologist to Arnhem Land, or has some other equally crazy idea.
Reference is also made in this bill to forests. I am particularly interested in forestry, and I have delivered two speeches in this House on that subject during my term of office as member for the Northern Territory. The sum provided for forestry under this bill is £2,270, which, in my opinion, is far too little, and quite insufficient to carry out the work which the forestry department is expected to do. That department carries out a considerable amount of research work, and acts in an advisory capacity to the State Forestry Bureau. I am particularly interested in the work of the Australian Forestry School at Canberra, and I should like to see its activities not only continued, but also considerably expanded. I ask the Minister to give special attention to the timber industry, because hitherto the Commonwealth's policy in regard to timber has, in effect, merely been that when too little is imported too much is cut in Australia.
Iaskthe Minister for Trade and Customs to make a searching survey of our stocks of all the hardwood timbers held in the capital cities. There are large stocks of second-class timbers in the various capital cities, which, because of some flaw, cannot be classified as first-class, but which, I contend, could be successfully used for building purposes. It seems a pity that timber men should go out and cut the timber and pay for hauling it to the cities only to find that a building contractor has the right to veto it if, in his opinion, it is not of first-class quality. I have examined in Sydney numerous stacks of really good timber classed as second-class merely because it has a small sappy vein running through it. In view of the ruthless depletion of our forests we should make a very careful survey of all stocks of hardwood throughout Australia, particularly in the capital cities, with a view to inducing contractors to use second-class timber in specified areas. "We import timber in order to preserve our forests and, at the same time, we desire to keep our men in employment. The question that confronts us is how to strike a balance. We should ask our forestry experts to devise a scheme whereby all buildings should contain certain proportions of imported wood and Australian hardwood. That is only reasonable. I suggest that the proportion of imported timber should be made as low as possible and also that second-class timber should be used where possible. 1 know that there are a number of people who say that we must have oregon for certain building purposes; I am inclined to agree with them ; but at the same time I suggest that the importation of oregon should be limited to bare requirements. We should do everything to keep our men in employment, and at the same time preserve our forests in perpetuity for the nation.
