House of Representatives
6 August 1923

9^th Parliament · 2^nd Session

DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARDING
QUESTION
- LOSS OF S.S. SUMATRA
QUESTION
- ALLEGED DISCONTENT ON CRUISER ADELAIDE
QUESTION
- ADVISORY FRUIT BOARD
QUESTION
- YORKE’S PENINSULA
QUESTION
- PAY OF GENERALS AND COLONELS
QUESTION
- FEDERAL MEMBERS’ ROOMS IN STATE CAPITALS
QUESTION
- NORTHERN TERRITORY
QUESTION
- SENIOR POSTAL SORTERS
QUESTION
- LAND TAX
QUESTION
- SYDNEY MAIL BRANCH
APPROPRIATION (WORKS AND BUILDINGS) BILL 1923-24
PAPERS
QUESTION
- BUDGET, 1923-24
QUESTION
- WOOL TRADE WITH JAPAN
SPECIAL ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Speaker (Rt. Hon. W. A. Watt) took the chair at 3 p.m., and read prayers.

page 2131

DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARDING

Mr BRUCE:
Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs · Flinders · NAT

– Before we proceedwith the ordinary business of the day, I desire to submit a motion expressing the regret of this

House at the death of Mr. Warren G. Harding, the President . of the United States of America. On Friday last, immediately upon receipt of the news, the House adjourned out of respect for the memory of the late President, and also as an expression of our esteem for a sister Democracy which had been so suddenly and tragically bereft of its head. I. indicated then that I intended to convey to -the Government of the United States of America the sympathy of the people of Australia with them in this loss, and on Saturday I Bent the following cablegram to that Government: -

I wish to convey to you the profound sympathy of the people of Australia at the death of President Harding. In him we felt that Australia and the Empire had a friend.. His last speech’ was typical of t]ie great, peaceloving democracy which had chosen him as Us first citizen. Through that speech ran the spirit - of peace and international brotherhood. It Rave Hope ‘to a world weary of strife that America would, under bis guidance, lend its powerful, aid to the establishment of a court for the peaceful settlement of international disputes.

To his lasting credit will stand the conception and achievement of the Washington Conference. HU prompt action probably averted war, and removed from the mind* of the people of at ‘least, three great nations immediate dread of fierce competition of armaments.

We extend ‘ our sympathy as a sister democracy to the people of the United States. We feel that we Have lost one who spoke the thoughts and expressed the hopes of the great masses of our citizens. We deeply mourn his lose, but be has not lived in vain.

The message, as honorable members will note, stresses the great service which the late President Harding rendered to the cause of universal peace. He was a man of great simplicity of character, and his life was dedicated to that worthy cause. The Washington Conference will stand as a memorial to his efforts in the cause of humanity. In officially opening that Conference in ‘ a few significant words he gave expression to the aspirations of the United States of America, which in this matter axe also those of the great Democracy of .Australia. He said -

I oan speak officially only for our United

States. Ona hundred millions want frankly lees of armaments and none of war. The task which he commenced is still unfinished. It is for us to keep his memory green, and by applying ourselves tq the work which he so ably beg’an, pay tribute to his memory. If the policy which he advocated be carried into effect., the world will turn with confidence to its task of rebuilding shattered Europe, and a new hope will dawn for millions.

In honouring the memory of a great man who has played an important part in tho affairs of the world, one may forget at times the personal sorrow of those whom he has left behind him; but I am sure it is the wish of honorable members that we should place on record the sympathy which we feel for. those who were near and dear to the late President in bis lifetime.

We should also, I think, endeavour to draw from bis life some lesson for our own future conduct. I am Burn that there is nothing we, or any of the great Democracies of the world, could do that would render a greater tribute to his memory than to further the policy of universal peace which during his lifetime he laid down for the United States of America. I move -

That this House, agrees to the following resolution: -

WeT the members of the House’ of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, express our deep sympathy with the people of the United States in .the death of weir President. Wb grieve that this great citizen should have been struck down at a time when the world had need of has counsel, but trust that the example of his life will stimulate to still greater efforts all those who labour in the cause of universal peace.

Mr CHARLTON:
Hunter

.- I desire to associate myself with the Prime Minister in supporting the motion which he has submitted to the House. On behalf of the Australian Labour party, I desire to express profound regret at the passing away of President Harding. He was a man who held the respect of the whole civilized world, and the people of its different countries owe a. debt of gratitude to him for his humanitarian action in convening the recent Washington Conference for the purpose of insuring peace in the Pacific, and his further efforts to promote a World’s Court for the purpose of dealing with in’ternational affairs, and thus preventing war. I can well imagine his feelings of joy when tho Conference decided to reduce naval armaments, and I regret he was not spared to further his great ambition of establishing a World’s Court. Let us see that his efforts have not been in vain,, and hope that the leaders of all nations will carry on this noble work, sparing no effort until the desired goal is reached. The late President’s death illustrates, too, plainly how difficult and arduous is the work of the men who guide the destinies of the world in these days of strife and turmoil. It is an unenviable task, and many who were engaged in it have sacrificed their lives in the performance of their duty. The people of America and Australia are bound together by a strong bond of friendship which I trust will never be weakened. Their interests are our interests, their loss our loss, and so to-day we stand with them mourning the death of one who was dear to us all. The world, with its crushing burdens and its serious post-war problems requiring solution, can ill afford to spare such men, and it was indeed tragic thatjust as the late Mr. Harding appeared to be on the road to recovery we should be stunned with the news that he had passed to the Great Beyond. The ways of the Almighty often pass our understanding, and we can but bend our heads in reverence and murmur,” Thy will be done.” To Mrs. Harding and our kindred overseas we offer our sincerest sympathies, and hope they may be comforted by the knowledge that the late President devoted his talents to an endeavour to pave the way for the world’s peace.

Mr SPEAKER (Rt Hon W A Watt:
BALACLAVA, VICTORIA

– I assume the unanimous concurrence of all honorable members in the motion. I shall be glad if they will record it by rising in their places.

Question resolved in the affirmative, honorable members standing in their places.

page 2133

QUESTION

LOSS OF S.S. SUMATRA

Mr BLAKELEY:
DARLING, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Will the Prime Minister have printed the evidence and findings of the Commission of Inquiry into the loss of the Sumatra, in order that members may have an opportunity to peruse them?

Mr BRUCE:
NAT

– I will look into the matter to see what can ‘be done.

page 2133

QUESTION

ALLEGED DISCONTENT ON CRUISER ADELAIDE

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– I call attention to the statement which has appeared in the press, that discontent has occurred on board the cruiser Adelaide. I ask the Minister for Defence to cause inquiries to be made into the matter, to see whether there is any truth in the statement.

Mr AUSTIN CHAPMAN:
Minister for Health · EDEN-MONARO, NEW SOUTH WALES · NAT

– I shall call the attention of the Minister for Defence to the matter when he returns.

page 2133

QUESTION

ADVISORY FRUIT BOARD

Appointment of Mr. Ennis

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

asked the Minister for Trade and Customs, upon notice -

Is it a fact that the Commonwealth Advisory Fruit Board has formally protested against the appointment of Mr. Ennis being made without its knowledge and against its advice and policy?
To whom was such protest delivered, and what were the terms of such protest?
Will the . Government give the text of such protest?
Was any personal protest made by the Board to the representative of the Tariff Board or of the Customs Department, owing to the action of the Tariff Board and the Customs Department in not advising the Fruit Advisory Board of such appointment?
What are the grounds of the protest against such appointment ?
In view of such protest, will the Government reconsider their policy, and have they decided to permit the continued employment of the services of Mr. Ennis?

Mr AUSTIN CHAPMAN:
NAT

– The answers to the honorable member’s questions are as follow : -

No. 2 and 3. See reply to No. 1.
1. No. 5 and 6. See reply to No. 4.

page 2133

QUESTION

YORKE’S PENINSULA

Air Service

Mr LACEY:
GREY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

asked the Prime Minister, upon notice -

Whether he is in a position to afford further information in regard to my question of 20th July, having reference to Lieutenant Miller establishing an aerial service from Adelaide to Yorke’s Peninsula, and such being used for conveyance of mail matter?

Mr BRUCE:
NAT

– No official advice has been received as to whether the proposal for the aerial service in question has yet been finalized; but, in the event of such a service being established, consideration will be given to its use for the carriage of the same class of mail matter as is carried by other aerial services.

page 2134

QUESTION

PAY OF GENERALS AND COLONELS

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice -

How many brigadier-generals, majorgenerals, lieutenant-generals, and full generals were on the pay list during 1913 and 1923 respectively?
What were thetotal amounts paid to such officers, including all allowances during such years?
How many lieutenant-colonels and full colonels were on the pay list during 1913 and 1923 respectively?
What were the total amounts paid for such officers, including all allowances, during such years ?

Mr BOWDEN:
Minister for Defence · PARRAMATTA, NEW SOUTH WALES · NAT

– The information is being obtained, and will be made available to the honorable member in a day or two.

page 2134

QUESTION

FEDERAL MEMBERS’ ROOMS IN STATE CAPITALS

Mr GABB:
ANGAS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

asked the Minister for Works and Railways, upon notice -

In what proportions was the amount of £588 spent on the maintenance of the Federal members’ rooms in the capitals of the various States during the financial year 1922-23?

Mr STEWART:
Minister for Works and Railways · WIMMERA, VICTORIA · CP

– The answer to the honorable member’s question is as follows : -

The amount spent on the maintenance of the Federal members’ rooms in each State capital during the financial year 1922-23 was as follows: -

page 2134

QUESTION

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Appointment of Doctors

Mr NELSON:
NORTHERN TERRITORY, NORTHERN TERRITORY

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Home and Territories, upon notice- -

In view of the urgent necessity for bush doctors in the Northern Territory, and the fact that there is only one doctor with the right of private practice in the Territory, will the Minister immediately consider the appointment of one, two, or more of the 190 doctors said to be unemployed, with a view to attending to the medical requirements of settlers in theoutback portions of the Territory?

Mr ATKINSON:
Vice-President of the Executive Council · WILMOT, TASMANIA · CP

– The question of increasing the personnel of the medical service of the Northern Territory Administration is at present under consideration, with a view to special provision for inland work and the extension of private practice. The Department is not in possession of information regarding the 190 doctors said to be unemployed.

page 2134

QUESTION

SENIOR POSTAL SORTERS

Examinations

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

asked the Postmaster-General, upon notice -

How many examinations for promotion to the position of senior sorter, PostmasterGeneral’s Department, have been held in New South Wales since 1919?
What was the total number of candidates who presented themselves for these examinations?
What was the total number of candidates who succeeded in passing the required tests in these examinations’?

Mr GIBSON:
Postmaster-General · CORANGAMITE, VICTORIA · CP

-The following information has been furnished by the Public Service Board: - 1.Eight.

One hundred and ninety-six.
Seventy-three,

page 2134

QUESTION

LAND TAX

Lessees Taxation

Mr FENTON:
for Mr. Scullin

asked the Treasurer, upon notice -

Whether he will furnishthe following information: - (a) The list of names of lessees whose land tax it is proposed to cancel; (5) the value of the taxable interest held by each lessee; (c) the amount of tax to be collected in each case.

Dr EARLE PAGE:
Treasurer · COWPER, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP

– The information desired will take a considerable time to prepare, but an effort will be made to get the details.

page 2134

QUESTION

SYDNEY MAIL BRANCH

Mr CUNNINGHAM:
GWYDIR, NEW SOUTH WALES

asked the PostmasterGeneral, upon notice -

Whether he will supply the number of the staff (permanent and temporary) in the Sydney mail branch as at 30th June, 1922?

Mr GIBSON:
CP

– The Deputy PostmasterGeneral, Sydney, has furnished the following information: -

Ninehundred and ninty-one officers.

page 2134

APPROPRIATION (WORKS AND BUILDINGS) BILL 1923-24

Bill returned from the Senate without amendment.

page 2135

PAPERS

The following papers were presented : -

Lands Acquisition Act - Land acquired at - . Coogee, New South Wales - For Postal purposes.

Fairfield, New South Wales - For Postal purposes.

War Service Homes Act - Land acquired at Richmond, New South Wales.

page 2135

QUESTION

BUDGET, 1923-24

In Committee of Supply: Consideration resumed from 3rd August (vide page 2131), on motion of Dr. Earle Page -

That the first item in the Estimates under Division 1 - The Parliament - namely, “ The President, £1,100,” be agreed to.

Mr WATKINS:

– Towards the end of the war there was some trouble, but it is now possible to ship copra viâ Australia, or by vessels trading with the East. The trouble seems to be due to the lack of trained men in charge of the plantations. The present Administrator has been there for only about eighteen months, and, within the limits of his authority, he is doing what is possible to improve the situation. His system of education for the natives must command the admiration of those who know anything about it. He has established technical and primary schools in certain centres where they are necessary, and in other directions he is doing all he can to improve matters. Rabaul is situated right in the corner of a bay, and as it is surrounded by mountains, naturally it is very hot. The Germans went to a great deal of trouble to plant four rows of shade trees in the streets of the old town. I found that many of these trees had been chopped down. I asked the reason, and was told that it was necessary, because a telephone system had to be installed. That is the military way. Everything must be sacrificed to its requirements. A few of the branches of those trees could have been lopped off to make room for the wires, or they could have been put underground, or they could have been put in some other place. That did not suit the authorities, however, so these valuable trees, which had taken years to grow and which were much needed in that tropical country, were cut down.

There is great need for a really good patrol boat. A Government official showed me a boat on the stocks which, he said, was sold for £600 to a Japanese shipbuilder. The buyer repaired it, and I understand that he wants £1,800 for it. The Government has now ordered from this man some patrol boats not half the size, for which it will pay £1,000 each. Those boats will be no bigger than an ordinary motor-launch, such as one would hire for a pleasure trip. I am not quarrelling about the price; it is the smallness that I complain of. There will be room for the captain and the engineer, but where will a prisoner, be put, if one has to be carried on them ?

Mr Maxwell:

– Where will the boat patrol ?

Mr WATKINS:
NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

-From island to island. They will have to do open sea work. A boat of proper size could be used to bring in native prisoners, and to do other odd jobs which are necessary. The Germans had a boat for this purpose which we captured during the war. That boat - the Una - is lying in Sydney Harbor. It is attached to the Navy Department; but why should it not be ‘used for the purpose for which it was used prior to the war? There is no doubt a great need for a properly equipped patrol boat.. Let me give an illustration of the need. While I was in the islands, two natives were arrested for murdering another native. The Judge who had to conduct that and other cases in the islands., is compelled to board the passenger steamer travelling by a circuitous route round the whole group of islands. The trial was fixed to take place at Madang. The boat arrived there at nine o’clock one night. The trial had to be com pleted in time to allow the Judge to board the boat the next morning, and continue his circuit. Therefore, a start was made as soon as the boat arrived. I do not know whether those men were guilty or not guilty, but, at least, they were entitled to a fair trial under reasonable conditions. They did not understand a word of English. Their language was interpreted by one of the police boys attached to the Court. They were defended by a Government official. No doubt he tried to carry out his duties to the best of his ability. I am not condemning him. But the whole business had its humorous side. Although that officer, doubtless, endeavoured to do his best for the men, he said to me, “ My multifarious duties will include assisting to hang these men if they are found guilty.” I think that illustration shows as much as anything the need for a proper patrol boat on which the Judge and his officers, and other administrative officers can go from place to place as necessity arises and discharge their duties under decent conditions.

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– A trial like that is a disgrace to this Parliament.

Mr WATKINS:
NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

– The Judge could not help it.

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– We should make better provision for him to do his work.

Mr WATKINS:

– These men are doing the best they can in the circumstances. They endeavour to find out the truth.

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– But they had to finish the trial in time to catch the boat next morning.

Mr WATKINS:

– The recital of these facts will be sufficient, I hope, to make the Government realize the need for a proper patrol boat, so that persons who are engaged in important public business in the Territory may be able to visit the various parts of the islands and discharge their duties in a proper way.

– There should be a single process instead of the present duplication of effort. The Labour party has always tried to carry out the promise made to the people when Federation was brought about. If the electors are ever asked on a straight-out issue whether they prefer to be governed by one Parliament or by seven, there will be an overwhelming majority in favour of having one Parliament. Ministers profess to be on the side of those who brought Federation into being, but if those whose portraits hang in the Queen’s Hall could speak, they would tell them that they are not doing what they promised to the people of Australia.

Mr PRATTEN:
Martin

.- Owing to indisposition I have had the misfortune, during the last few weeks, to miss many interesting discussions which have taken place in this Chamber. I feel myself to be privileged in being able to take part in a Budget discussion, because the Budget figures, presented annually by the Treasurer, are really the balancesheets covering the whole of the Commonwealth’s operations for the twelve months. It is, of course, impossible in one speech to deal with all the details that are contained in the Budgetpapers. Statements of savings or of increased expenditure necessarily are spread over hundreds of pages of figures, and it is not within the compass of any honorable member to make complete comparisons in the time at his disposal. Further, many complications exist in the presentation of the Treasury accounts, and they do not lessen the difficulty that honorable members have in making accurate comparisons from year to year. The method of presentation of the Budget figures, too, does not give one an easy bird’s-eye view of. the financial position of the country. It appears to me that the traditional methods of the first decade of Federal finance are being continued in the third decade, irrespective of the revolutionary figures that have obtained during the second decade. comprising the war years. The late Treasurer (Mr. Bruce) made considerable progress in the direction of simplification . in the presentation of accounts, and the present Treasurer (Dr. Earle Page) has followed that excellent example. I should like to see a further simplification in order that the “man in the street could, with little trouble, and in not too long a time, familiarize himself with a summary of the financial affairs of the country.

In the course of the remarks that I have to make upon the Budget itself I shall not attempt to give any detailed dissections; I shall deal with a few aggregate figures and one or two principles affecting some of the conclusions that have been arrived at by the Treasurer in connexion with financial matters. Generalizing on the Budget speech of my honorable friend, I am of the opinion that he has presented to the country a financial statement that gives evidence of economy and of some savings, and a very considerable attempt to simplify and cheapen the cost of government. In the presentation of his accounts, however, I think he will probably agree that he has followed Departmental, rather than business, methods. I agree with the criticism of the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. Charlton) that an excessive expenditure is shown in the financial year which ended last June, and that the estimate for the current year is considerably under what it is proposed to expend. Compensation to taxation officers amounting to £200,000, grant in aid of main roads development amounting to £500,000, loans for the purchase of wirenetting totalling £250,000, are stated to have been spent last year. Advances to the Fruit Pools amount to £500,000 ; but I hope we will have a considerable set-off against this when the financial year is ended.

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

– That will be a dead loss, I am afraid.

Mr PRATTEN:

I congratulate the Treasurer upon the industry which he has evidenced in the preparation of the Budget. I am convinced that Australia wants diligent and efficient administration. It is satisfactory to know that there has been a decrease in the cost of administration. We do not want so much to pile up legislation as to make a determined effort to reduce the chaotic results of war administration to reasonable post-war orderliness. I believe the Treasurer is prepared to give us a fair deal all round. I hope he will insist on getting value for all money expended. In my opinion, he is on right lines in endeavouring to reduce what many people think is an overstaffed Public Service by valiantly trying to get rid of the duplication of Federal and State activities that has grown up in recent years. I do not agree with his allocation of the surplus. The only bright feature is the knowledge that onethird of the amount is to be set aside for the payment of war gratuity bonds, which, in effect, is a reduction of the national debt. I hope that at the end of the year he will not require the £2,500,000 mentioned for the equalization of taxation.

With regard to money required for defence, I urge that the defence of Australia should consist, not so much in “ forming fours “ or the glitter of military pageants as in doing all that is possible to insure the manufacture in Australia from our own raw products of our own munitions of war. I am not sure that this is being done. I am not quite clear that I can support- the proposed reduction of the sulphur duties. I certainly will not do so unless there is some countervailing bonus or subsidy to insure the production in Australia, and from our own sulphur, of all the sulphuric acid that may be required for our future needs, because sulphur is the basis of all munitions of war.

– We have no free sulphur it is true, but we have it allied with pyrites, and it should be our duty to see that this industry is sufficiently encouraged tq meet all our probable, needs.

I have spoken a little longer than I intended, but my remarks have been directed, I hope, towards encouraging the Ministry to set out upon a policy of keeping our credit within the country.. I am sorry that the Treasurer’s loan proposals have not attracted greater attention from the investing public. I think we can afford to give slightly better terms to our own people than to investors abroad. It would be all to the’ good if ‘we could spread Australia’s indebtedness amongst hundreds of thousands- of people in this country; because, then we would not require tq send surplus exports overseas to pay interest upon loans raised there.

Mr West:

– Does not the honorable member think that £5 9s. 3d. is good interest?

Mr PRATTEN:

– At the moment i’ am not arguing what is good or what is not good interest; I am indicating a policy which, I believe, must be adopted if we are to place Australia in a sound financial position. I am convinced1 that the only possible way in which we can face the future with equanimity is to pay off as much as we can abroad and shift the balance on to the- shoulders of our own people.

Mr C RILEY:
COOK, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

.- I must express my disappointment at the decision of the Government with regard to the increase in the old-age and invalid pension allowance. Since we have such a valiant champion of the old-age pensioners in the Ministry in the person of the Minister for Trade and Customs (Mr. Austin Chapman) I was hoping that the increase would be at least to £1 per week. I say this in all earnestness, because in my State I have had many talks with old-age pensioners who have made repeated requests to me to do what I could to get the pension increased to more than £1 per week. Therefore, I am disappointed that the increase has not been to at least £1 per week. This additional 5s. per week would have meant approximately £1,750,000 additional expenditure. No doubt members of the Ministry thought this would be too great a burden for Australia, but I think it is the least ‘ we’ could do to ease the lot of those pioneers who helped to make this country what it is. I remind the Government that many applicants for pensions are mothers and fathers of lads who lost their lives in the war. A little, more sympathy to these poor souls would be more in keeping with the spirit of the promise made to the boys who went abroad. I am dissatisfied because the Government does not intend to make the increased pension payable until September. Why should not the extra amount be paid from 1st July? The extra money that would thus go on to the pensioners would be very usef ul to them. Had we been dealing with ‘a militant organization the payments would doubtless have been made retrospective. Because the old-age and invalid pensioners have no organization behind them the Government has determined not to pay the increased pensions until 1st September. I ask the Treasurer to consider even now whether he cannot make the payments .retrospective from 1st. July. It is not very much to ask of him.

Certain reductions proposed in our postal charges will reduce the postal income from the handling of commercial papers; merchandise, and other classes of. mail matters, by £930,000 a year. I believe that we should make our Public Service as up-to-date and. as cheap as possible, but we shall make a mistake if we authorize any reductions in postal charges, at present. That £930,0.00 could be well spent in improving the postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications in the country districts. There is plenty of room for improvement. Instead of relieving big business concerns, insurance companies, and other commercial bodies from contributing this amount to our postal revenue, we should ask them to continue paying the present rates so that the income , could be used to improve general facilities in the country. The Government should consider the wisdom of expending more money on wireless installations. To my mind wireless, telegraphy and telephony have passed the experimental stage. They could be used with grea’t advantage to the people outback. Just .as: the: members -of the Australian. Imperial” Force travelling across the ocean were glad to receive’ wireless messages, of events at home- and on the battlefield, so people in our outback country would appreciate wireless facilities’ which would afford them news of happenings in the capital cities and abroad. The Government propose to borrow £5,000,000 and to make it available to the States which enter into an immigration agreement. I believe the Government’s immigration policy is nothing more nor less than a cheap-labour “stunt.” An amount of £500,000 is to be provided for passage money. I point out to theGovernment the prevalence of complaints on the part of welfare officers and other immigration workers in Australia about the lax methods which are evidently adopted in England in selecting migrants. Many immigrants infected with venereal disease have come into Australia. I have urged for years that we should enforce a stricter examination of immigrants. “While I was in England I wrote to a member of this House and suggested that a strict examination should be made in England to ascertain whether persons proposing to emigrate to Australia were infected with venereal disease, tuberculosis, or other infectious diseases. We have sufficient difficulty now in coping with disease and illness in this country. We should not accentuate the trouble by bringing other sufferers here, who may ultimately become a burden on the taxpayers and expose our kith and kin to contamination. Considerable efforts are being made by various organizations to develop- a big system of child immigration. The Barnardo Boys’ Homes, the “ Dreadnought “ Boys’ authorities, and’ the Salvation Army, particularly, are taking steps in this direction’. I agree with the policy of bringing to our shores lads who, eventually, will grow into acceptable Australian citizens by receiving proper training, and by the inculcation of true Australian sentiments, but I ‘ protest that the authorities who have this work in hand do not provide a proper system of supervision of the boys and girls .who are sent out to our farms and stations. State children -.receive- miserable, and shocking treatment at times, although there is some form of supervision now. The Barnardo boys, and other children, who are being sent, here as immigrants, are not protected by any form of supervision. We have- taken care that the bush workers shall be given proper housing conditions and fair wages. Our wharf labourers- cannot be compelled to carry a heavier weight than the Chapman sack of 200 lbs. We provide protection for other -workers also. Surely it is reasonable that some supervision, should be provided for the boy and girl immigrants who take up work in our country districts. Some of them will doubtless be sent to selfish employers, and will be compelled to do more than should be expected of their weak physical frames. I urge the Government to create some machinery to insure a proper supervision of these young people. Many of them are orphans and have no one to look after their interests. The least we can do is to see that no unscrupulous employer takes advantage of them. I anticipate from the remarks of Sir William Wyndham, of the British Immigration Delegation, which visited Australia, that we shall receive many more child, immigrants. That gentleman remarked, in a press interview, that 400,000 boys left school each year in England with no prospect of getting work. It was these boys that they all desired to see absorbed in Australia. That indicates clearly that the members of that delegation contemplate sending a good many of those 400,000 children to Australia. The Australia House authorities have not only failed to carry out a proper system of medical examination, but they have also failed in other respects. The result is that we are not only getting immigrants with diseased bodies, but also immigrants with diseased minds. The Commonwealth immigration agents are apparently selecting “ crooks,” and sending them to Australia. Articles which have appeared in the Daily Guardian reveal what is being done. One article was headed -

British magistrates are helping Australia to solve the problem of immigration.

The article stated -

That is not a rash unconsidered statement; it is proved by the action of a Croydon (England) magistrate, in actually remanding a dangerous criminal, so that arrangements could be made to send him to Australia.

Is the Commonwealth to become a dumping ground for criminals from the other side of the world ? The article proceeds -

In all probability that crook is in Australia to-day. His name is Walter Power, and he is twenty-one years of age. A report of his trial appeared in the London Evening News of 24th February last.

This is how the Nevis puts it - “ A present for Australia “ -

Emigration for young man whom police think dangerous : -

Walter Power, of Tatsfield, well dressed, described by the police as being “ very dangerous,” was charged with stealing a magneto and a dynamo worth £18. His father said that early in life the young man had been “ crafty, and consumed with Overwhelming vanity.” The accused man was said to have served several sentences for housebreaking ; on one occasion he was carrying firearms, and on another he had a dagger. He was remanded for arrangements to be made to send him to Australia.

Does the Commonwealth Government intend to remain idle while things of this kind are being done ?

The defence proposals of the Government are worthy of consideration by all the members of this Committee. It is disappointing that so much time is being taken up in our national Parliamentin discussing defence proposals. After the success of the Allies in the Great War one would have expected a reduction in expenditure on naval, military, and aerial activities. The tendency, however, is in the other direction. It is proposed that we shall spend £553,000 more this year than we spent last year on defence. That is most disappointing to me, and, I believe, to all returned men who are members of this House. Not only is it proposed that, we shall spendso much more money, but the Treasurer has also told us that £2,500,000 of our accumulated surplus is to be set aside as a reserve for defence. We do not know how that money may be spent.It would be much better for us to spend it in some way that would make for the material welfare of the people than to talk so much about war, and to put it aside to be spent in defence. Peace is not likely to be achieved by preparations for hostilities that all nations profess to be desirous of avoiding. Australia has led the way in many reforms, and why should it not set an example to the other nations in the cultivation of the arts, not of war, but of peace ? I do not say that Australia should be left without any defence; but, instead of devoting huge sums to preparations for war, we should set about the task of scientifically organizing our industries. If war broke out suddenly, Australia would be in a sorry plight. Governments in the past have spent vast sums of money on armies and navies; in the future they should build schools, colleges, institutes, and hospitals. The vision of some present-day statesmen does not extend beyond battleships, submarines, and aeroplanes for attack and defence purposes. Some honorable members imagine that we should fear Japan, but I contend that a more real peril is presented by tuberculosis, cancer, and venereal and other diseases. It is proposed to spend £121,000 this year on the promotion of public health. I think that amount is slightly less than was spent last year in that direction. No serious attempt has been made to carry out proper research work for the purpose of discovering cures for cancer and tuberculosis. The Government should undertake such an investigation, if it were only for the sake of the tens of thousands of returned men in Australia who are suffering from tubercular trouble. The Government, however, seem to imagine that a nation’s greatness is represented by the number of its battleships and aeroplanes rather than by the health and happiness of its people. A much larger sum than £121,000 should be made available for the Department of Public Health.

It would be too much to expect the Government to increase the maternity allowance. When that measure was introduced some years ago by the Fisher Administration, children’s clothing was much cheaper than it is at present, and inasmuch as it has been thought necessary to increase invalid and old-age pensions, owing to the high cost of living, it would be consistent and fair to increase the maternity allowance.

I urge the Ministry to hesitate before appointing a Board of Directors for the Commonwealth Bank. It would be well advised if it allowed the management to proceed along the smooth lines that it followed under the reyime of the late Governor, Sir Denison Miller. If it is decided to have a Board of Directors, I hope the Government will realize that there are officials on the present staff of the Bank quite capable of undertaking its management. Sir Denison Miller was a man of vision, and he provided the nucleus” of the staff he regarded as necessary to make the Bank the great success it has undoubtedly proved. The Government should not go beyond the present officers when searching for members of the proposed Board.

I hope that the Government will not allow some second-rate defeated political candidate, or a person of that class, to represent Australia at the British Empire Exhibition, but that a member of the Government, who will truly represent the people, will be chosen. There are -a number of aspirants for the honour, and I trust that the Government will not for a moment ‘ contemplate the appointment of any person who could not worthily represent the Commonwealth.

Honorable members who are interested in the development of the Northern Territory will be glad to know that the Government propose to attempt to stimu- late settlement there. Attention should be devoted to the suitability of the Territory for the growth of cotton and flax. In 1919, 72 acres of cotton were under cultivation in the Commonwealth, and in 1920 166 acres; but in 1922 there were 7,000 acres. Just as the acreage of cotton cultivation has increased in late years, so would that of flax if given proper encouragement by the Government. I understand that a gentleman named Strachan has been endeavouring to obtain a refund of his out-of-pocket expenses in connexion with fostering the flax industry, and I trust that the Government will favorably consider his claim. Great advantage would be derived if that industry could be established profitably in the Territory, because we import flax products to the value of £2,000,000 per annum. In 1921 there was scarcely 1,000 acres under cultivation, and not more than 45 tons of flax and 180 tons of linseed were produced in Australia. The industry should be developed sufficiently to enable the Commonwealth to meet its own requirements of linseed oil. At present we import £500,000 worth of linseed every year. Linseed cake is a valuable fodder for cattle. We could manufacture linengoods, and the by-products would be useful for the manufacture of twine. The cotton and flax industries, if successfully established, would enormously increase the wealth of Australia.

Australia is the greatest wool producer in the world, especially of the higher quality wools. It is strange, therefore, that we have not yet realized the full value of this industry. Great Britain, France, the United States of America, Germany and Japan must wonder at our shortsightedness in not having taken full advantage of our position in this respect. For the last ten years we have exported 56,279,179 sheepskins with wool ou them, and we have exported only 116,000 without wool. Instead of manufacturing the wool in Australia we have been sending it to Britain, France, Japan, tb* United States of America and Austria, and the work of manufacture is done in countries where cheap labour obtains, instead of profitable employment being found for Australians. In 1921-22, 7,270,660 sheepskins, with wool, wereexported from Australia, and 116,553. sheepskins without wool. This is clear evidence of the manner in which work ia being sent out of our country.

I want to impress upon the Government the desirability of imposing an export duty on sheepskins. For forty yean the fellmongers have been trying to obtain such a duty, but have failed. In this connexion it is interesting to remember that India has placed an export duty on goatskins. Dun’s International Review states -

There has been considerable feeling expressed regarding the export duty of 15 per cent, imposed by India on shipments of raw hides and skins. An exemption has been made in the case nf the British Empire, where a rebate of 10 per cent, is permitted. The United States imports from India vast quantities of goatskins, and the 15 per cent, export duty imposes a considerable burden on

American tanners of glazed kid in the face of the British Empire preferential. India’s action in taking this step has attracted widespread attention in the United States, and is being considerably discussed.

India, therefore, has taken action in its own interests, where Australia has failed to do so. The following statement is taken f rom the Argus of 6th July last : -

EMPIRE RESOURCES.

Cotton and Wool.

Australia’s Opportunity.

London, 4th July.

Sir Henry Whitehead, who isthe proprietor of mills at Bradford and elsewhere, and who, dining the war, was a member of the Wool Board of Control, has written to the press emphasizing that the Empire’s resources should be developed for the mutual benefit of all parts of the Empire. “ In theforefront of such a policy,”he says, “ stands the development of wool production, particularly merino, because Australia, New Zealand, and South Africabold a practical monopoly of it. I also strongly favour the development of cotton-growing in Australia, and consider that steps already taken in that direction constitute one of the most promising enterprises yet undertaken. There seems no reason why Australia should not grow all of the cotton required by the Empire. When the Empirehas a monopoly of any raw material an export tax should be levied on shipments to countries outside the Empire. The Imperial Conference ought to consider the important question of the unification of the law ofcommercial banking practice.

I do not think that there is any necessity to labour this question, because honorable members must realize the foolishness of the policy that is being adopted by the Commonwealth at the present time in breeding the sheep and sending the skins to foreign cheap-labour countries, there to be worked up and afterwards placed on the English market, eventually finding their way back to Australia. It would be much better to have the whole of the skins treated in Australia. It is not consistent for the Government to import workers, and to export work. During the years 1915 to 1920 we exported to the United States of America 306,000,000 lbs. of wool, valued at £20,282,786. The textile industry in the United States of America is the second largest industry, and its dimensions have increased by 433 per cent. during the last twenty years. An American Wool company, with a capital of £18,000,000, which operates fifty-nine mills inthe United States of America, has arranged to take an option on the output of thirty-five woollen mills in Austria, Germany, Czecho-Slovakia, and other countries, the American company undertaking to provide the raw material for those countries. That company will buy the rawmaterials in Australia, and ship them to central European cheap-labour countries, where they will be made into cloth and marketed in Britain, and possibly in Australia. The treatment of sheepskins, the removal and washing of wool, and the preparation of basils for the market, is a business in which the Commonwealth should lead everycountry. Protection from outside competition is found by imposing a duty at the port where goods come in. It seems quite reasonable then to ask that protection from inside competition be given by imposing a duty on certain raw material going out. We have raw materials in abundance. Instead of employingour own people in handling the skins in Australia, those skins are shipped abroad in millions in order to feed the industrial activities of France, Germany, Japan, and the United States of America. It has been said that not one ounce of wool should be exported from Australia. I am not prepared to go as far as that although by doing so we should havethe precedent set by England from 1660 to 1825, which absolutely prohibited the export of wool during that period. It is pleasing to note that throughout Australia , there is a settled policy with regard to the establishment of country woollen mills. It will not be sufficient to have a chain of woollen mills from Western Australia to Queensland. It will be necessary, also,to keep our products in Australia and have the wool manufactured here. If we had woollen mills throughout the country districts it would be necessary to have also wool scouring works. Many men would thus be given employment, and instead of workmen being concentrated inthe capital -cities they would be found useful employment in country towns. Those honorable members opposite who are pay- ing so much attention to the question of defence cannot do better than increase our population by providing a greater amount of work in Australia. Some honorable members fear that our next fight will be with Japan. For many years before the war Australia exported to Germany, metals, of which our soldiers got the benefit from 1914 to 1918. The same thing is happening in regard tosheep, skins, hundreds of thousands of which are being sent to Japan, the wool being worked up and sent back to Australia and other British possessions as cloth. That is undesirable. The. honorable member for Wentworth (Mr. Marks) has stated that there is a great market in .Japan for Australian cloth. That honorable member has stated -

A leading Australian commercial, man in Yokohama informed me that he could sell unlimited quantities of Australian manufactured woollen goods, and also suitings, ‘but that the only supplies that could he obtained were of English manufacture from Australian wool.

Will any honorable member attempt to defend that sort of thing? Yet we do not show ourselves ready to grapple- with the situation.* The following is a message from a New South Wales source: -

page 2151

QUESTION

WOOL TRADE WITH JAPAN

The wool report issued by Schute, Bell and Company for Riverina circulation refers to a suggestion that Australia should impose an export duty on w.ool purchased here for export to foreign countries. It is explained that advantages accruing to French and other Continental manufacturers through the depreciated exchange are militating seriously against Bradford mills, as foreign buyers are able to outbid -them at Mie English sales, and yet be able and allowed to land the manufactured article in England at a lower cost than Bradford could profitably produce.

I have received from the secretary of the Wool and Basil Workers Union, Botany, New South Wales, « telegram, in which he informs me that 75 per cent, of his members are out of work. The position is very serious. I hope, therefore, that the Government will consider the advisability of imposing an export duty on sheep-skins.

I trust that the Treasurer (Dr. Earle Page) will take into consideration my representations regarding the vote on account of public health. The amount proposed is altogether inadequate. The Institute of Science and Industry also is to be provided with only £15,000 for investigational purposes. If we are to do anything towards encouraging primary production and enabling our primary producers to grapple with the many pests they encounter, it will be necessary to provide for investigation a greater sum than £15,000.

Mr CORSER:
Wide Bay

.- I think that, taking everything into consideration, we can compliment the Treasurer (Dr. Earle Page) upon the Budget.

Mr CORSER:

Mr FORDE:

– Yes, they have. I shall come to that aspect later. Labour was successful also in 1918 and in 1920. Throughout Australia it was stated that Labour could not win because of its inability to handle financial matters, but, as a matter of fact, finances of no State in Australia have been more carefully husbanded than have those of Queensland during a particularly trying period. The Government of Queensland recognised that large developmental works were necessary, and that loan money would have to be spent. When honorable members representing the “big business” interests of Flinders-lane proceeded to form a Government they considered it desirable to call in the assistance ofthe Country party. I regret that the Budget and the important Bills that have to come before Parliament are to be disposed of at a break-neck speed. There is no good reason why these matters should be hurried through merely to enable the Prime Minister (Mr. Bruce) to attend the Imperial Conference. Why should not the Treasurer (Dr. Earle Page) be left in charge of the House? It seems that the Prime Minister is not prepared to trust the leadership to the Treasurer. It is the duty of honorable members on both sides of the Committee to protest against the early closing of the session, which will prevent discussion of the many intricate and vital problems that ought to be considered. We know that the Treasurer has a number of pet schemes that he wishes to have placed on the statute-book, and surely, when the Prime Minister goes to England the Treasurer would have a unique opportunity to prove his ability as a leader. One could hardly expect a Government composed of Free Traders, city merchants, doctors, agents and farmers to arrive at a uniform policy, or one that would meet with the approval of people outside. Some members of the Ministry are prepared to sacrifice all the political principles that they espoused in the last Parliament, so long as they may draw their Ministerial salaries.

Sitting suspended from 6.30 to8 p.m.

Mr FORDE:

– Exactly. But I am pointing out that they secured election to this Parliament by saying that they would have absolutely nothing to do with the Nationalist party, that they considered Nationalist members worse than Labour members, and would not support the Nationalist party’s policy any more than they would support the policy of the Labour party. When we find such a conglomeration as we have on the other side, it is no wonder that a hotchpotch kind of a Budget should be submitted by the Treasurer. In perusing the Budget, I find that we- are told that the surplus for the year was £1,020,150, making the accumulated surplus £7,475,276. Nothing is said as to the way in whichthat surplus was arrived at. No credit is given in the Budget to the Australian note issue. It is hidden from the eyes of the public that the Labour party was responsible for the Australian note issue, from the profits from which the present Government have been able to take over £1,000,000 into revenue, thus making their surplus possible. The Labour Government, when they established the Australian note issue, did so believing and intending that the profits from it would go towards the reduction of the national debt. That party came in for a good deal of criticism when the measure was before the House. Itwas very severely condemned by the then Opposition, and I think it was Sir Joseph Cook, then Leader of the Opposition, who referredto it in mostcontemptuous terms, and described the notes as “ Fisher’s flimsies,” saying that people would be able tobuy thousands off them for a few pence in a few years.

Mr.Austin Chapman. - Why condemn us for what Sir Joseph Cook said ?

Mr FORDE:

– Because the same old Conservatives have composed the party on the other side for the last ten or twelve years. They have all along been men of the same political type, thinking on similar lines, and tied by the same outside influences, the influences which the honorable member for North Sydney (Mr. W. M. Hughes) said a few nights ago were such that he could not grapple with them, even in connexion with affairs at Canberra. In the words of the Melbourne Age, a Conservative newspaper, honorable members opposite are controlled by a secret National Union outside, that supplies the money to “ pay the piper and calls the tune,” to which honorable members opposite have to dance. On page 2 of the Budget statement, -we find the revenue for 1922-23 is augmented from the note issue fund to the extent of £1,072,894. If the profits made from the note issue had been used for the purpose for which they were intended by the Labour party, that is the reductionof the national debt, there would have been a deficit for the financial year just closed of approximately £52,743, accordingto the figures I find in the Budget.

If the Treasurer, had not been able to utilize profits made out of the note issue, no doubt he would have found some other way of manipulating the figures in order to present a balance-sheet that would meet with the approval of the commercial interests. By such juggling of figures as he bitterly condemned before he gained office, the Treasurer has managed to show that expenditure is diminishing, and apparently he desires to be able to present a Budget next year which will show a further reduction in expenditure. To that end, £1,301,000, which is estimated to be expended in the current financial year, was debited against the accounts of last year. That amount comprises: - Purchase of wire netting,£250,000; advance to States under the Main Roads’ Act, £500,000 ; advance to Fruit Pools, £551,000. Had that expenditure not been debited to last year, the Treasurer would have been obliged to estimate a deficit of about £1,000,000 instead of. a surplus in the current year. The Leader of the Country party, before he became Treasurer, severely condemned the adoption of such practices by the then Treasurer, who is his present Leader (Mr. Bruce), but some members readily forget all their cherished ideals and views of political economy if by so doing they may reach the Treasury bench. A comparison of the expenditure for the year ended 30th June last,with the figures for 1913-14, shows an alarming increase. The expenditure out of revenue in 1913-14 was £23,160,733; in 1918-19, £45,119,681; . and in 1922-23 £63,700,485. The rate at which the public debt of the Commonwealth and the States is increasing is alarming, and every student of political economy must realize that a prudent financial policy is essential to the future welfare of Australia. The Commonwealth debt at the present time comprises-:- War debt, £362,692,000; other debts, £48,300,000; total, £410,996,000. The public debts of the States are: - New South Wales, £190,000,000; Victoria, £109,000,000; Queensland, £85,000,000; South Australia, £60,000,000.; Western Australia, £54,000,000; and Tasmania, £22,000,000, making a total for the States of £520,000,000, or £930,000,000 for Commonwealth and States. I mention the Queensland public debt because some honorable members say that that State, merely because the Labour party are in power there, has the greatest public debt of all the States in the Commonwealth. . The figures I have quoted prove that that is not so. The Budget shows that £260,000,000 of the Commonwealth debt will mature in the next seven years, and the most prudent administration is necessary if this country is to be helped out of the financial morass into which it has been led by past Nationalist Governments. It is necessary to prevent a repetition of past waste and extravagance, and such scandals as the purchase of fourteen wooden ships for £2,000,000, ten of which, purchased at a cost of £800,000, were sold privately to some individual for approximately £15,000. We must avoid such waste and maladministration as occurred in connexion with War Service

Homes, and the purchase of the saw-mills at Canungra and Beaudesert. Those mills cost the people of the Commonwealth over £500,000, but were left idle for eighteen months, and many hundreds of men were consequently thrown out of employment. A Government of the same political complexion as that of the Ministry now in power was responsible for all that bungling. The mess has not yet been cleared up, for I have yet to learn that these saw-mills have been sold. Not long ago they were advertised for sale, and no doubt we shall discover later that they have been sold at a sacrifice, and that some individuals have made good bargains, as Lahey and Brett did when they obtained £463,000 of the people’s money for saw-mills that were worthless to the Commonwealth Government. “We must avoid also a repetition of such bungling as theKidman-Mayoh shipbuilding contract, which cost the Commonwealth many thousands of pounds. The Nationalists were responsible for that transaction also, and I understand that the money due to the Treasury by the contractors in accordance with the decision of the Courts has not yet been paid.

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

– That must wait till next year.

Mr FORDE:

– Yes ; but if an old-age pensioner were overpaid he would be expected to refund the amount out of his 15s. per week, in contributions of.1s. or 2s., which he could ill-afford. The same remark applies to war widows and others who are dependent upon pensions, because their breadwinners were lost in the war. Whilst advocating that economy should be practised in future, I do not say that there should be parsimony in the administration of the public finances. Parliament in co-operation with the States should pursue a developmental policy that will give employment to thousands of men, and make available to the sons of Australian farmers millions’ of acres of land that are urgently required for settlement. I have known as many as 700 applications to be received for one block of land in Queensland, and there is always an excess of applications for every block thrown open for selection in certain parts of Western Queensland, particularly the central-west and southwest. I agree with the words of Henry

Higgs, C.B., the well-known writer on national economy, who said -

Economy is the wise management, husbandry, or administration of resources. Parsimony requires no prudence or sagacity, no power, combination, or judgment, but a blind policy of stinting everywhere. Expense, and great expense, with prudence may be an essential port of true economy. .

It is possible that the Treasurer, who out of politics is a very estimable citizen, but as a politician is inexperienced in finance, might deem it his duty to practise parsimony instead of economy, thus stinting the country of the money required to develop it by the construction of railways, buildings, and roads, and the provision of telephonic, telegraphic, and postal services, to induce men who are desirous of going upon the land to go into the remote parts of the continent. The Labour party has no need to be ashamed of its record in Federal finance. In 1909 a Labour Government had a surplus of £450,000; in 1910 an anti-Labour Government had a deficit of £650,000. The Labour Government in 1911 showed a surplus of £1,837,000; in 1912 another surplus of £2,261,000; and in 1913. a third successive surplus of £2,650,000, but in the following year the Liberal Government had a deficit of £1,400,000. There is a significant contrast between the deficits of the two anti-Labour Governments and the £7,000,000 of accumulated surpluses for which Labour Administrations were responsible. Instead of hoarding the present accumulated surplus of over £7,000,000, the Government should use £2,000,000 of it in increasing the old-age pensions by 5s. instead of 2s. 6d., as the Treasurer proposes, and apply the balance to the reduction of the national debt. The increase promised to the old people is quite inadequate. Anybody who studies the finances of the Commonwealth must recognise that an endeavour must be made to reduce the public debt. The Labour party does not advocate repudiation of the public debt, as some honorable members opposite declare we do; we believe that the Government should do everything possible to wipe out that burden in the briefest possible period. More could have been done in that regard in the last financial year. Honorable members opposite say that the members of the Opposition are the only ones who regard the Budget as unsatisfactory, and it is well, therefore, to quote an independent authority, lest people reading Hansard - and I find that a great many people do read Hansard - should think that the objections to the Budget are merely the opinions of those of us in this House who are opposed to the Government. This is what the Age of 8th July said regarding the Budget : -

Expressions of disappointment with the Federal Budget were general in the city yesterday. After Dr.Earle Page’s stout declarations of economy and the urgent need for a reduction of both taxation and expenditure, it was considered that he had egregiously failed to grasp his opportunity, even allowing for his inexperience, and for the fact that he had only been in charge as Treasurer for one-half of the financial ‘year.

Mr R GREEN:
RICHMOND, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP

– What is the honorable member reading?

Mr FORDE:

– I am reading from an anti-Labour Conservative authority to show that my views of the Treasurer’s Budget are not the views of Labour members only. In the same issue of the Age there were telegraphic reports from Sydney saying that great disappointment with the Treasurer’s Budget speech had been expressed there. Members on the other side of the House do not like the facts to be published. Some of the people of Queensland have adopted what those honorable members would call “the horrible custom” of reading Hansard, and I want them to know what Conservative newspapers right on the spot think of the Budget.

Mr R GREEN:
RICHMOND, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP

– Is the honorable member in order in reading an article from the daily press dealing with a matter now before Parliament?

The TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN (Mr Watkins:
NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES

– The honorable member is not quoting from an article bearing upon the present debate, but from a newspaper report of another matter. He is therefore in order.

Mr FORDE:

– I now resume the reading of myextract from the Age -

For the Ministry tohave levied crushing taxation sufficient to yield an accumulated surplus of £7,000,000 was regarded as being quite unjustified; to withhold this huge sum from its legitimate purpose as a vitalizing influence in commerce and industry was indefensible, while to continue the same crippling rate of taxation was condemned as placing the Ministry in the same class as the spendthrift Administration it had suceeded. The need for industry and enterprise being relieved from the throttling grip of the tax-gatherer is held to be more urgent to-day than when Or. Earle Page posed as the champion of economy last year and the year ‘before, and it is a keen disappointment to many that he has so abjectly failed, to translate his words into actions.

Before the present Parliament expires, a great many people who earnestly and conscientiously supported the Treasurer as Leader of the Country party, will find that he has not fulfilled all the promises he made. Whatever his personal views may be, he now finds himself in the meshes of “ big commerce.” He finds himself associated with one of the captains of industry - one of the leaders of the great middlemen and commercial magnates of Australia, whose interests are not identical with those of the struggling farmers whom I can picture to-night in the backblocks of Queensland, New South Wales, . and the other States. The men on the land have not received a fair deal from Conservative Governments, and they have to seek the services of honorable members on this side to put up a fight in their interests. They recognise that we are free and untrammelled and not controlled by those wealthy interests that subscribe to the mysterious National Union, which is behind the Prime Minister and the Treasurer.

It is disquieting to find figures in the Budget speech disclosing a falling off in the value of Australian exports. In 1921-22 Australia’s exports, . according to the Budget, were worth £127,846,000, and in 1922-23 they were worth only £117,778,000,representing a falling off of a little over £10,000,000. In 1921-22, wheat to the value of £28,644,000 was exported, but in 1922-23 the value had declined to £8,508,000. And so with butter, of which £7,988,000 worth was exported in 1921-22, and £6,134,000 worth in 1922-23. If one accepted the word of Conservative newspapers, one would think that the only part of Australia which was becoming less prosperous was Queensland, and that the reason was that a Labour Government was in power there. Bulletin No. 10, prepared by the Commonwealth Statistician, for the quarter ended December, 1922, shows that inNew South Wales, for the year 1920-21, there was an excess of imports over exports of £20,000,000. This means that the State of New South Wales paid £20,000,000 more for goods imported than it received for goods sold to other countries. Victoria, the allegedly prosperous State, had an excess of imports amounting to £23,000,000. Queensland had a surplus of £4,000,000 worth of exports over imports. That gives the lie direct to the traducers of Queensland. I am satisfied that the honorable member for Wide Bay (Mr. Corser) is not afraid of the security of his property in Queensland. He would not dream of selling out his interests there and migrating to Victoria. He knows that there is greater prosperity in. that State under Labour rule than there is in Victoria under a Conservative Government.

Mr Corser:

– My property is freehold. The Labour Government has a system of perpetual leaseholds.

Mr FORDE:

– Leasehold has been a great boon to Queensland. The honorable member when he speaks of freeholds reminds me of one of the hindrances to development in Queensland. Along the railway lines of that State there are many thousands of acres held by the descendants of people who settled there fifty or sixty years ago. Those holdings were purchased for nominal sums, and should, if possible, be resumed for closer settlement, the Government, of course, paying due compensation to the owners. When a sympathetic Government was in power people took up hundreds of square miles of freehold, and obtained leaseholds at peppercorn rentals. I am glad that, the Queensland Government is now about to resume 700,000 acres of sheep country in the south-west of Queensland. What for? Not to hand it over to a Labour union, or any other organization, but to make it available to the sons of Queensland farmers and workers. That land would not be available in the ordinary course of events for a great number of years. For every block of sheep country available in Queensland to-day, there are, approximately, 700 applicants. It is nearly as hard to draw a block of Queensland sheep country in a land ballot as it is to draw a winning ticket in Tattersalls sweepstake.

Mr Corser:

– There is plenty of sheep country available “ out west.”

Mr FORDE:

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

– The Government engaged an American firm to dispose of our fruit.

Mr FORDE:

– Yes ; and it incurred great losses. It is the duty of the Government to endeavour to find markets, not only in the East, but in other countries. In the Dawson area an area of 1,000,000 acres is to be made available. On the north coast railway approximately 300,000 acres, and at Palmerston 180,000 acres, are to be thrown open for closer settlement, whilst in the Clermont Capella district 300,000 acres are to be made available for cotton-growing. In the south-west of Queensland 700,000 acres of sheep country are also to be resumed. I quite agree that those pioneers - some of whom are still on the properties - who went out into these districts were hardworking, and deserving of every consideration, and I would not favour their land being resumed without reasonable compensation being granted by an independent Court. The Labour Government will give that protection to them. I mention these facts, as one frequently reads newspaper statements to the effect that everything in Queensland is retrogressive because a terrible Labour Government is in office. In the year 1914 the dairying industry in Queensland was worth £2,390,000, and in 1921 £7,000,000. In 1914 the agricultural crop in Queensland was worth £5,670,000, and in 1921 it was valued at £10,500,000. In 1914 the primary industries generally in Queensland were worth £59,000,000, and in 1921 £68,000,000. In 1914 the number of owners cultivating land in Queensland was 22,000, and in 1921 24,500. In 1914 the number of cattleowners was 39,700, and in 1921 48,700. These figures prove conclusively that the dairying, agricultural, and other industries have made rapid progress, and that the number of land-owners cultivating their property, and also the number of cattle-owners have increased to a remarkable extent since the Labour Government came into office. These figures should effectively refute the statement that the LabourGovernment is ruining the northern State, and that if Labour Governments were returned in other States or to the Federal Parliament their administration would be detrimental to the best interests of the community. I have already shown the success which attended the financial efforts of a Federal Labour Government - that its work was carried out with due regard to economy, and that it was able to show a substantial surplus each year it was in office. Comparing the years 1921-22 with 1920-21, according to the Commonwealth Year-Book, we find that New South Wales showed a decrease in exports of £5,000,000, Victoria £200,000, and South Australia £3,000,000; whilst Queensland showed an increase of exports over imports of £2,400,000. These figures are in addition to those which I previously quoted. The Producers’ Review of 10th January, 1923, which is the official organ of the United Cane-growers’ Organization of Queensland, the Farmers’ Union, and the Graziers’ Association of Queensland, states -

A study of the CommonwealthYear-Book 1921-22 yields interesting results. Queensland factories pay the highest weekly rate of wages in Australia, viz., £4 16s. 8d. The average working hours are the lowest in Australia, namely 45 - 52 per week. We would naturally expect that on such figures industries would suffer. However, the output per employee is the greatest in Queensland - the sum of £364 per annum. New South Wales comes next, with £322; and South Australia last, with £262.

I desire to call your attention to what is considered, by those living in the district affected, as a serious injustice, viz.. that in some of the more remote areas of this State the resident land-holders have to subsidize their mail services.

As an illustration,I have before me the cases of the Clio-Richmond and Army DownsRichmond mails. In both these cases the Department refused to pay sufficient for the services, with the result that no one would tender at or near the price offered, and the only way the settlers could secure the services was by making up the balance required.

I think you will recognise that it is in the best . interests of Australia that these remote areas should be pioneeredand the country opened up for settlement. This generally entails upon those undertaking this type of settlement a good many hardships, and the only meansby which the disabilities of the pioneering life can be modified and the settlers kept in touch with the trend of things in the centres of population is by the mail service.

It is therefore very discouraging to find the Government,who should be giving every encouragement to this class of settler, penalizing him by requiring him to subsidize these services.

When the Postal Department was not a paying concern there might have been some justificationf or such a policy, but that cannot be said to be the case at present, and I certainly think that while there is any surplus revenue available, every consideration should be given to the cases above mentioned.

I would specially draw your attention to the fact that when the postal service to these remote districts was under State control, the residents were not called upon to make up any deficiency in revenue which such service might entail.

Inbringing this matter under your notice, I desire to point out that Western Australia and South Australia, and the western districts of New South Wales, are also interested in the present policy of the Postal Department just as keenly as Queensland is.

That is from a well-known opponent of the Labour party, and a supporter of the Government. He is prepared to give his views freely and fairly, as he does in the letter I have just read.

I should now like to touch on the question of repatriation. We are told in the Budget that £1,188,000 will be required for general repatriation purposes, and that the war expenditure on account of pensions, repatriation, and so forth for the year just closed amounted to £30,100,472. That is a very substantial sum. I admit that the Government are beset with difficulties in this work of repatriation. As an ex-member of the Queensland Parliament, I am fully aware of the troubles experienced by the Land Settlement Department in giving satisfaction to the soldier settlers. The State Department, however, is greatly hampered because the Commonwealth Government will not increase the advance of £625 to these settlers. Two years ago, the Queensland Minister of Lands came to Melbourne, and proposed that the loan shouldbe increased to £800. These loans are made for building, fencing, and other improvements, and for the purchase of implements and live stock, and the amount sanctioned is found to be quite insufficient. Proper provision is not made for boring for water, and many of the settlers have had to spend considerable sums out of their own pockets. Others have had to leave their farms for want of water. The men are urging an increase in the loan, but the Minister of Lands in Brisbane cannot do anything because of the attitude of the Commonwealth Government. Truly, £625 is a very small sum with which to provide a house, fencing, live stock, farming implements, and improvements generally, and one wonders how the settlers manage. Owing to this cheese-paring policy they are not able to develop their lands in the way they should be developed, and as they could be if the advance were £800. I have been amongst those men, and I know them. I appeal to the Treasurer to afford the assistance they desire. Previous Treasurers have been applied to in the same way, but nothing has been done.

The War Service Homes Administration has been putrid; at any rate, it left room for a great deal of improvement. The honorable member for Reid (Mr. Coleman) so ably presented the case in a very fine speech the other day that I shall not now go into the subject at length in the few minutes remaining at my disposal. I gather from the Budget that £2,158,141 is to be spent on War Service Homes this year, and I trust that the Treasurer, during the Prime Minister’s absence, will see that the Minister in charge has the business thoroughly “ cleaned up,” and the Department put on a proper footing. I trust that’ the Government will get rid of the sawmills in Queensland which were purchased by the. Department at the cost of half-a-million of money and afterwards closed down, with the inevitable result of causing unemployment. I hope, however, that the sale of these sawmills will prove of advantage to the Government. At any rate, care ought to be taken, that some friend of this “composite “ Ministry does not become the lucky purchaser at a price unduly advantageous to himself. We remember the secret sale of Commonwealth wooden ships, when £10,000 was paid to the Government, and a profit of £100,000 made by the purchasers, and we also remember the sale of the Geelong Woollen Mills. I have always held that the War Service Homes should be supplied to the soldiers at the statutory price.

Mr Coleman:

– That is a sacred obligation.

Mr FORDE:

– It is. Many of these men -decided to purchase homes, believing that they would obtain them for £800. When overhead expenses are added, however, the home frequently costs £1,000 or more. I know that there has been a writing down of the cost of returned soldiers’ homes, but it has not been satisfactory in Queensland, and we heard from the honorable member for Reid that it has not bee.n satisfactory in other States. In Queensland, one man has a home valued at £820, and the next-door house, of the same type, also occupied by a returned soldier, is valued at £85$. These anomalies’ continue under the administration of the Department,, and from beginning to end the returned soldiers have not been given a fair deal.

Mr Coleman:

– And they can. get no satisfaction from the Government.

Mr FORDE:

– That is so. When they appeal for redress, they are told that consideration will be given to their complaints in due course. Time goes on, and nothing effective is done to remedy their grievances. I hope that the whole matter of War Service Homes administration will be carefully gone into.

I desire to touch briefly on the question of national insurance. It is a matterof very great importance to Australia, and I should like to go into the subject very fully, but I have not time to do so to-night. In the brief time- at my disposal I want to say that I do not think any one can object to a proper national insurance scheme for the whole of Australia;, so long as it is so framed as to have due regard for the people intended to be benefited- by it. Large weekly payments should not be demanded. The purpose should be to help struggling people, and the scheme should not be such as would render it an ineffective competitor with private insurance companies. We should not be bound by precedent. Let us establish the best and most comprehensive scheme on record. Any Board or Commission appointed to consider national insurance should have on it a representative of the industrial workers of Australia, because they are the people who are most vitally concerned. The Government should have the courage not to hide behind the report of any Board or Commission. They should come down to this House- with a Bill providing for a national scheme of insurance. Why should we, as legislators paid £lj000 a year, each delegate our powers to any one else or hide behind the reports of Commissions? I know that the Government would like to say, “ This is what the Commission recommend. We are not experts in this matter, and we have acted on the report and recommendation of the Commission.” But I say that it is the duty of the Government to take the responsibility in their own hands and introduce a National Insurance Bill. No time should be wasted. I am wondering whether the Government intend to continue the maternity allowance and old-age and invalid pensions, if they introduce a national insurance scheme? No information has been given on this- matter. I am satisfied that the people of Australia will not stand for the abolition of old-age and invalid pensions, or the maternity allowance.. We know that the -Government desire to abolish these payments, but they dare not do so. The British National Insurance Act was introduced in 1911. It provides for a contributory system. We know that in Germany there is a very fine national ‘ insurance scheme. It .was the first great scientific experiment of insurance on a national scale. In Germany the contributory payment and benefit are in proportion to wages, so that the higher class of workman pays a high contribution and secures a very substantial benefit. With certain exceptions, all employed persons in England between the ages of sixteen and seventy, unless employed otherwise than by way of manual labour at a rate of remuneration exceeding £250 a year, are required to be insured. The ordinary weekly rates of contribution payable are 7d. for men and 6d. for women, 3d. of which is paid by the employer and the remainder by the employed ‘ person. The Queensland Labour Government is the only Government in Australia that has tackled the questions of State insurance and unemployment insurance. Its schemes have been very successful. There is an Unemployment Insurance Act on. the Queensland statute-book, but it is not correct, as the Argus says, that, as the result of what it describes as the “ Loafers’ Paradise- Bill,” thousands of men are going to Queensland from the other States to live on the Government of that State. Before a man can benefit under the Act referred to, he has to be a contributor to the fund for six months. He can then draw payments for fourteen weeks, if he is out of employment; but if any job is offered to him in the meantime and he refuses to accept it, his allowance from the unemployment insurance fund is stopped. Thus the statements made concerning “ The Loafers’ Paradise Bill “ in Queensland are maliciously untrue. The Queensland Act is the first attempt by any Government in Australia to deal with the matter of unemployment, just’ as the State insurance scheme established by the Labour party in the northern State is the first attempt made in Australia to establish State insurance on a big scale. In the six years during which the State Insurance Department has been established in Queensland, profits have been made amounting to £300,000. It is not the object of the Department to make huge profits, but whatever profits are made remain in Queensland, and are distributed by way of loans to workers for homes and to men on the land to develop their properties. The Queensland Government, by its insurance scheme, has saved the insurers no less than £200,000. They have reduced the gross rate of fire insurance premiums by 331/3 per cent., and increased the payment to workers for accident insurance from £400, previously paid by private companies at death, to £600, from £400 to £750 in case of total incapacity, and in case of accident from £1 to £3 10s. per week: It has enabled miners suffering from phthisis to secure weekly payments, and their wives andchildren to be cared for. These benefits have been conferred by the Labour party’s Insurance Act in Queensland. These measures show what has been done by Labour in one State in Australia to deal with these questions, which are of transcendent importance. They should be considered from the point of view of the great mass of the people who would benefit from them. If a Commonwealth insurance scheme had been established at the time the Queensland scheme was established and had met with similar success, the profits would by now have amounted to £2,000,000, and the insurers of Australia would have been saved £6,000,000. These estimates have been prepared after careful consideration by the State Insurance Commissioner of Queensland. What is required is a national insurance scheme for the assistance of the poorer people, but I am doubtful whether any party other than the Labour party, which is free and untrammelled, will be able to place on the statute-book of the Commonwealth a national scheme of insurance that will be a formidable competitor with the various’ insurance companies which throughout Australia are making enormous profits at the present time by excessive charges. We on this side would welcome a great national insurance scheme which would tend to make the lives of the workers, the housewives, the aged and infirm, and the poorer people of the community brighter and happier than they are to-day.

Mr PROWSE:
Forrest

– I should like, at the outset, to refer to a few remarks made by the last, speaker, the honorable member for Capricornia (Mr. Forde). I can hardly imagine that the honorable member desired to be absolutely impartial inhis statement regarding the Postal Department. I do not think that he wished to convey to the people of Australia thefacts as set out in the Budget. I find that the telephone and telegraphic expenditure amounts to £3,850,000, and that 54 per cent. of that amount -is to be spent in the country, as against 46 per cent. spent in the cities.

Mr PARKER MOLONEY:
HUME, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– How did the honorable member find that out ?

Mr PROWSE:

-Perhaps if the honorable member who interjects had been as diligent as he might have been, he would have made the same discovery. I find that £729,000 is to be spent on buildings, and that ninety-one of those buildings are to be erected in the cities, and 183 in the country districts. If the amount to be expended on buildings is added to the proposed expenditure on telephones and telegraphs this year it will be found that the proportion of the expenditure in the country is greater than that in the cities. That is a clear statement of the facts as set out in the Budget.

Mr Forde:

– The honorable member has. not given the figures. Let him quote the figures from the Estimates.

Mr PROWSE:

– I have given as much information as was given by the honorable member for Capricornia (Mr. Forde). Honorable members will find that the figures I have given are approximately correct, and represents fair statement of the case. The honorable member boasted that wages are higher in Queensland, and hours of work shorter than in any other State. He said that in South Australia wages were lowest and the hours longest. The honorable member’s attitude seemed to me to be like that of a’ young man boasting before his poor relatives because his father had left him’ a fortune. Queensland representatives come here with their jaws hanging down claiming assistance from the Government of the Commonwealth to develop industries in that State. They ask for substantial support for the development of the sugar industry, and say that if a duty of £14 per ton is not imposed, the industry will die. The people of South Australia who work longer hours than the people of Queensland and for less pay have assisted to bring about the satisfactory conditions in Queensland of which the honorable member boasts. Western Australia loses its reciprocal trade with Java because it is compelled to support Queensland interests.

Mr Forde:

– Is the honorable member opposed .to the duty on bananas?

Mr PROWSE:

Mr Fenton:

– Who is to blame for that?

Mr PROWSE:

– I lay the charge at the- feet of the honorable member for Maribyrnong: (Mr. Fenton) as a unit in the party that brought that about. By removing the competition of oversea shipping lines he assisted to give the Australian shipping companies an opportunity to combine. Competition is the soul of any business. Australia is encouraging inefficiency. Vs soon as these Combines find they .’are .not making sufficient profits, that the increased wages demanded by the wage earners cannot be paid, and that farmers and others will not buy their machinery, they demand that the Tariff wall shall be raised still higher. Instead, they should put their shoulders to the wheel and make an attempt to compete even with at least the white nations of the world by modernizing their plant and adopting up-to-dat. methods. They should say, “ We are as good as any white people. We can bo effective. We will show it.” The workers should say, “ If we get these wages we will make the output.” If the workers would only give a reasonable output their wages would be worth something to them. Their wages are no better- to-day than when they were half the amount!’ It is they who, by encouraging Combines, arc causing the high cost of living. Let us get down to business. I suggest that the Government, at least on this occasion, should take some notice of the Melbourne Age, and cause a close inquiry to be made.

The manager of Messrs. F. H. Faulding and Company, wholesale druggists and chemists, of Perth, which firm has- recently erected a modern factory in that city, said-

Our industries still require the greatest assistance and support from the Government and the people of the State if they are to pull through. A3 far as imports from .overseas are concerned, if we cannot manufacture goods of equal quality at a lower price than the imported article loaded with the present Federal Tariff, we had better give up manufacturing altogether.

– Simply because one out of 112 members of this Legislature decides to go to Europe, and move within the charmed circle of the British Cabinet, Parliament has to go into recess. What a “ fool game “ this is in the opinion of the people outside. The members of this Parliament are paid £1,000 a year, and some of them give full-time, some half-time, and others quarter-time to their duties. If all parliamentary candidates were asked whether they would, if returned, give the whole of their time to their political duties, the answer would be a unanimous “ Yes.” I desire to have the electoral law amended so that, when a candidate signed his nomination paper, he must declare whether, if elected, he would give full-time, half-time, or quarter-time to his duties. We all know what the answer would be. We are getting into the bad habit of the House of Commons, with its 680 members, of conducting the business with four or five members in the chamber. As for the silly, fossilized House of Lords, there three are a quorum to manage the affairs of the British Empire. On one occasion it was proposed that this rule should be rescinded, but the proposal was rejected by a majority of 133.

The Prime Minister is going to England, but I ask whether he represents the people of Australia. If a vote were taken in Melbourne and suburbs, which contain half the population of the State, I venture to say that the right honorable gentleman would not be allowed to go. It is, perhaps, the first time in the history of Parliament, that one man in a Parliament of 111 has had the power to stop all proceedings. It is possible that the right honorable gentleman wishes to go Home to “ make his bow,” and give his lady the opportunity to do the “ kick back “ before Royalty. I cannot understand why Australia has all this paraphernalia in England. We have Australia House, which has cost £1,000,000, and in that house there are men who, because they “kowtow “ to a Minister, may get their salaries increased by £1,000. One of these officials had the audacity to insult, perhaps the greatest sculptor we have, Mr. Mackennal. I do not like the statue that has come into our possession ; at any rate, I hate a statue with a skull on the top of it. It is a present which, however, represents £3,000 in commission, and it was buried in the cellar. Yet the official responsible for that has had his salary increased by £1,000 a year. To the credit of the ex-Prime Minister (Mr. W. M; Hughes), I may say that he sent Mr. Mackennal a letter of thanks when I called his attention to the matter. It would pay Australia if we swept away the whole six Agents-General and the High Commissioner. I have no objection to Sir Joseph Cook, who was once wise enough to see the value of a suggestion I made that we should enter into an agreement with Germany based on the then . value of the mark as related to the £1 sterling. When the mark was . 1,000 to the £1, 1 suggested that we should take £5,000,000 worth of goods per annum from Germany, goods that were not manufactured in Australia. I pointed out that in 1913 there came into Australia from Germany £19,000,000 worth of goods, none of which was manufactured here. I conT tended that in this way we should wipe out the whole of the war debt that will lie like a curse on the future citizens of Australia. On that occasion, in answer to an interjection from the Government “ corner, I said that I did not propose that we should make any profit on the goods, but that all profit should be handed to the people. Such an arrangement would have found freight from Europe for all time, and kept our Commonwealth ships filled to their capacity. Sir Joseph Cook said that the suggestion was worthy of consideration, and so it was.

I suppose we must forgive the Treasurer (Dr. Earle Page) for the miserable pittance he has handed to the old-age and invalid pensioners. I should not wonder if, in future, the honorable gentleman is known as the “ Half-crown Treasurer.” I have no objection to Lady Bridges; she lost her husband at the Front, and he was a good man, whom I knew personally. Lady Bridges had good reason to mourn her loss, but she was given £4,500. 13 any such provision made for the widow of John Smith or Harry Brown ? It cannot be asked for all the widows of the men who died at the Front - women who loved their men as much as Lady Bridges loved her man. Then that champion parasite of Australia, the late Sir Samuel Griffith, who received from the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth some £90,000 in the course of his life, was granted a pension, of £5 a day. His was, perhaps, the keenest legal intellect in Australia, and he took the high position of Chief Justice, knowing that no pension was attached to the office; but when it suited him, he held out his hand and cadged £5 a day. I have never been able to ascertain how much, in addition to salary, Sir Samuel Griffith received by way of allowances. I may say that it was my lips in this House that paid him the praise he deserved for his translation of the work of the great Italian poet, Dante Alighieri. I was “ one who expressed my willingness to devote an equal amount to what I paid

Dr. Maloney. in income tax to his assistance if he had lost all his money by unfortunate speculation. However, compare the liberality in these two instances, with the niggardly addition to the invalid and old-age pensions. The Prime Minister, by his action the other day, robbed me of my opportunity to get a vote on my motion in favour of destitute allowances. The Attorney-General (Mr. Groom) did me the honour to move the adjournment of the debate, and that, as honorable members know, was only a polite way of shelving an awkward question. I am sure that neither the Treasurer, nor any other honorable member, if a vote were taken whether the old-age pension should be increased by 2s. 6d. or by 5s., would dare to vote for the smaller sum, for the simple reason that ‘our creators, the people, would remember our action. We must not follow all the old precedents of the British Parliament. It gives me the “ pip “ to think that, until the war occurred and forced the position, no Britisher was given a vote because of the fact that he is a human being, and now the ladies of England are not given a vote ‘ unless they are thirty years of age ! I believe I was the first member of Parliament to introduce a direct Bill to confer female franchise. When I did so, I was met with jeers, sneers, and cat calls, but I have lived to see the greatest opponents of that measure crawl to obtain the votes of women. I shall be as persistent with my motion for a destitute allowance as I was in regard to that other, and I trust that I may see carried into effect a proposal I have previously made that a motion placed on the noticepaper may go to a vote without debate. That would be very useful, because it is often desirable to know to whom one may look for support. On the first attempt I made in the Victorian Parliament in favour of female franchise I had only the assistance of .the late Lieut.-Colonel Smith. I did not think we would get very far with the matter, but we tackled it session after session, and I lived to see it carried into effect through the kindly action of the late Sir Thomas Bent. I have mentioned here an unfortunate case of ‘a lady who for thirtythree years has been a sufferer from double congenital dislocation of both thighs, and who is not allowed to draw the invalid pension because she was a year and a few monthsover the age of three years when she arrived in Australia.. If she had been only throe years of age on her arrival she would, under the Act, bo entitled to the pension. She brought her case under the notice of the right honorable member for Balaclava (Mr. Watt), who did his best for her without success. As a last resort she has applied to me, and I am now appealing to the Treasurer on her behalf.If she had not been permitted to come to Australia that would have been more just, but it is an absurdity of red-tape that she should be denied the invalid pension because she was a little more than three years old when she arrived in Australia.

The great question at the present moment is the question of war. I have never advocated war, and never will, because behind every soldier I see the women and children who suffer. More human beings - men and women and children - died as a result of the last war than were actually killed in the fighting. When the great President of the United States of America, who has just left us, called together the Washington Conference, I be lieve that the sun of peace rose, as the sun sometimes does on a morning in winter or autumn, with its light hidden to some extent by clouds; but I also believe that that sun of peace will yet find its noon in a burst of glorious sunshine. The calling together of the Washington Conference was not, in my opinion, the late President’s greatest act. I believe he did more to promote peace by his statement cabled here only a few short weeks ago, that in the next war there will be not only conscription of life, but conscription of Wealth. That will do more to prevent war than will the conscription of life. Is it not infamous that to-day the children of the men who paid the supreme sacrifice at the Front are helping to pay the interest on our war debt, whilst the commercial magnates . of Flinders-lane and other rich men have made fortunes? I shall always thank Sir Alexander Peacock for the publication, not by name but by numbers, of a list of persons who have made fortunes. There was a list of from one up to 250, during 1913-14, 1914-15, and 1915-16; and in one case which I worked out - and the figures for which I had verified by the “Warden of the

Melbourne University Senate, in order that I might be quite accurate - it was shown that a man had made profits at the Tate of 2,000,000 per cent. I asked the present Prime Minister to publish the names of all persons in receipt of incomes of over £5,000 a year in the Commonwealth. I made this request in view of the fact that the salary paid to our King and Emperor, the Queen, theRoyal Princes, every sailor, from the admiral commanding to the humblest man on deck, and every soldier, from the officer commanding to the private, every Prime Minister, every Cabinet Minister, every Speaker, and member of Parliament, and every policeman, is publicly known. The Government was not courageous or wise enough to give the names I called for. If they had been given I should next have asked how much they held in tax-free bonds. Any honorable member who goes into the figures will know that a man with a large income of, say, £10,000 a year, will be receiving not 3, 4, or 5 per cent. when he invests his money in bonds free of income taxation, but will be receiving from 10 per cent. up to 25 per cent., because the higher the income the higher the rate per £1 of income tax. If a man’s money is invested in bonds free of income taxation, he escapes that taxation. I want to be fair, and perhaps the Treasurer will correct me if I am wrong, but I understand that the last Commonwealth loan placed on the market is to be the last free of income taxation.

Dr Earle Page:

– It is not to be free of Commonwealth taxation, but will be free of State taxation. It is the last loan to be issued on those terms.

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

– I commend the Government for that decision.

It “ gets my goat,” as the Americans say, that Parliament cannot go on with its work because the best-lookingman in this House is going away to England. If we did meet in his absence we should miss his handsome features; but surely there are other members of the Government who, as old politicians, axe able to lead this House? I ask leave to continue my remarks on the resumption of the debate.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

Progress reported.

page 2176

SPECIAL ADJOURNMENT

Motion (by Dr. Earlepage) agreed to-

That the House,at its rising, adjourn until half-past 2 o’clock, p.m. to-morrow.

House adjourned at 10.44 p.m.

Cite as: Australia, House of Representatives, Debates, 6 August 1923, viewed 22 October 2017, <http://historichansard.net/hofreps/1923/19230806_reps_9_104/>.

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House of Representatives 6 August 1923

DEATH OF PRESIDENT HARDING

Mr BRUCE:Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs · Flinders · NAT

Mr CHARLTON:Hunter

Mr SPEAKER (Rt Hon W A Watt:BALACLAVA, VICTORIA

QUESTION

LOSS OF S.S. SUMATRA

Mr BLAKELEY:DARLING, NEW SOUTH WALES

Mr BRUCE:NAT

QUESTION

ALLEGED DISCONTENT ON CRUISER ADELAIDE

Mr E RILEY:SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr AUSTIN CHAPMAN:Minister for Health · EDEN-MONARO, NEW SOUTH WALES · NAT

QUESTION

ADVISORY FRUIT BOARD

Dr MALONEY:MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

Mr AUSTIN CHAPMAN:NAT

QUESTION

YORKE’S PENINSULA

Mr LACEY:GREY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Mr BRUCE:NAT

QUESTION

PAY OF GENERALS AND COLONELS

Dr MALONEY:MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

Mr BOWDEN:Minister for Defence · PARRAMATTA, NEW SOUTH WALES · NAT

QUESTION

FEDERAL MEMBERS’ ROOMS IN STATE CAPITALS

Mr GABB:ANGAS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Mr STEWART:Minister for Works and Railways · WIMMERA, VICTORIA · CP

QUESTION

NORTHERN TERRITORY

Mr NELSON:NORTHERN TERRITORY, NORTHERN TERRITORY

Mr ATKINSON:Vice-President of the Executive Council · WILMOT, TASMANIA · CP

QUESTION

SENIOR POSTAL SORTERS

Mr E RILEY:SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr GIBSON:Postmaster-General · CORANGAMITE, VICTORIA · CP

QUESTION

LAND TAX

Mr FENTON:for Mr. Scullin

Dr EARLE PAGE:Treasurer · COWPER, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP

QUESTION

SYDNEY MAIL BRANCH

Mr CUNNINGHAM:GWYDIR, NEW SOUTH WALES

Mr GIBSON:CP

APPROPRIATION (WORKS AND BUILDINGS) BILL 1923-24

PAPERS

QUESTION

BUDGET, 1923-24

Mr WATKINS:Newcastle

Mr Atkinson:

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Atkinson:

Mr WATKINS:

Dr Earle Page:

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Atkinson:

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Atkinson:

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Atkinson:

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Watson:

Mr WATKINS:

Mr E RILEY:SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr WATKINS:

Mr E RILEY:SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Maxwell:

Mr WATKINS:NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

Mr E RILEY:SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr WATKINS:NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

Mr E RILEY:SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr WATKINS:

Mr E RILEY:SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Gibson:

Mr WATKINS:

Mr Gibson:

Mr WATKINS:

House of Representatives
6 August 1923

Mr BRUCE:
Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs · Flinders · NAT

Mr CHARLTON:
Hunter

Mr SPEAKER (Rt Hon W A Watt:
BALACLAVA, VICTORIA

Mr BLAKELEY:
DARLING, NEW SOUTH WALES

Mr BRUCE:
NAT

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr AUSTIN CHAPMAN:
Minister for Health · EDEN-MONARO, NEW SOUTH WALES · NAT

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

Mr AUSTIN CHAPMAN:
NAT

Mr LACEY:
GREY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Mr BRUCE:
NAT

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

Mr BOWDEN:
Minister for Defence · PARRAMATTA, NEW SOUTH WALES · NAT

Mr GABB:
ANGAS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Mr STEWART:
Minister for Works and Railways · WIMMERA, VICTORIA · CP

Mr NELSON:
NORTHERN TERRITORY, NORTHERN TERRITORY

Mr ATKINSON:
Vice-President of the Executive Council · WILMOT, TASMANIA · CP

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr GIBSON:
Postmaster-General · CORANGAMITE, VICTORIA · CP

Mr FENTON:
for Mr. Scullin

Dr EARLE PAGE:
Treasurer · COWPER, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP

Mr CUNNINGHAM:
GWYDIR, NEW SOUTH WALES

Mr GIBSON:
CP

Mr WATKINS:
Newcastle

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr WATKINS:
NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr WATKINS:
NEWCASTLE, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr E RILEY:
SOUTH SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

Mr PRATTEN:
Martin

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

Mr C RILEY:
COOK, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; FLP from 1931

Mr CORSER:
Wide Bay

Dr MALONEY:
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA · ALP; FLP from 1931; ALP from 1936

Mr FORDE:
Capricornia