House of Representatives
27 June 1951

20th Parliament · 1st Session

  1. House of Representatives
  2. 20th Parliament
  3. 1951

Mr. Speaker (Hon. Archie Cameron) took the chair at 2.30 p.m., and read. prayers.

page 489

QUESTION

TIMBER

Mr ROSEVEAR:
DALLEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

– On a number of occasions, I have addressed questions to various Ministers about the introduction of timber pests into Australia with prefabricated houses. On the last occasion I raised the matter, I directed the attention of the Prime Minister to a report to the effect that a ship had arrived in Melbourne with timber which had caused the quarantine officers so much concern that they threatened that, if they could not destroy the pest by fumigation, they would order the cargo to be dumped. Will the Prime Minister inform me when T may expect the reply which he undertook to give to my question? Does he realize that the post constitutes a danger to tha houses which the Government is importing at great expense ? Is he aware of tha experience in New Zealand, where the pest has infested the pine forests, and is causing grave concern, and does he. realize that it may cause similar concern in Australia? Is the report ready which he promised to obtain for me, and is the Government really taking the matter seriously enough to warrant a most searching investigation into the possibilities of the pest being introduced permanently into Australia?

Mr MENZIES:
Prime Minister · KOOYONG, VICTORIA · LP

– Very great attention is being given to the matter to which the honorable member for Dalley has referred. In the ordinary course, the answer to his earlier question would have been available to-day; but when it cane before me last evening, I thought that, perhaps, it should be made a little more complete in one particular. I think that I can undertake that he will receive the answer to-morrow.

page 490

QUESTION

COMMUNISM

Mr WIGHT:
LILLEY, QUEENSLAND

– Will the Prime Minister inform me whether he has any information that indicates whether the HanlonLabour Government in Queensland is to make up its own mind in response to hisrequest for a transfer of power by . th. States to enable the. Commonwealth to ban the Communist party, or whether that Government is to he subjected to thu advice, decision or coercion of an outside body, the Queensland Central Executive of the Australian Labour party? Ha« the Prime Minister any similar information about the decision of the McGirr Labour Government in New South Wales ?

Mr MENZIES:
LP

–So far as I am’ aware, no official indication has yet come from either the Government of Now South Wales or the Government of Queensland about its attitude towards the proposed reference of power by the States to the Commonwealth. What the honorable member has said about the procedure which he assumes will be followed refers, of course, to a procedure which has not been unknown in the past and which, I dare say, will he followed again in the future.

page 490

QUESTION

SHIPPING

Mr THOMPSON:
PORT ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

– Is the Minister representing the Minister for Shipping and Transport aware that, as the result of the hold-up of shipping at “Port Adelaide some weeks ago, certain “ overseas shipowners decided to omit the port from their schedules until they could be sure of having their vessels unloaded expeditiously there? Is he also aware that the position at- Port Adelaide has improved «o greatly’ in recent weeks that waterside workers have had to-: bp paid attendance money for standing by because work was not available for them ? In the circumstances, will the honorable gentleman take action to ensure that full publicity is given to this fact so that merchants and other persons in South Australia who wish to import goods may not be penalized any more than is absolutely necessary?

Mr ANTHONY:
Postmaster-General · RICHMOND, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP

– r- As the honorable member knows, the Minister for Shipping and Transport is a citizen of Adelaide and he is giving very special attention to this matter. I shall inform the honorable gentleman later of the Minister’s views on the subject.

Mr DUTHIE:
WILMOT, TASMANIA

– In directing a ques-tion to the Prime Minister, I point out that, in common with other representatives of Tasmania in this Parliament, I welcome the prospective visit to Australia of an overseas shipping expert.

Mr SPEAKER:

-Order! It is not o question of the honorable gentleman welcoming anybody, as he ought to know.

Mr DUTHIE:

– I certainly do know. Mr. Speaker. I ask the Prime Minister whether the terms of reference for V, inquiry by- the expert include not only shipping but also wharf space, storage capacity, handling gear, the- suitability or otherwise of the cargo ships that arc now operating, port management and ‘ stevedoring. Will the “expert visit not only the two main ports of Tasmania, a; Hobart and Launceston, but also other ports in that State such ae Beauty Point, Devonport, Ulverstone, Burnie, Stanley and Cygnet? Will’ this Government assist in the carrying out of the recommendations of the expert when they are made, even to the extent of granting financial assistance if necessary?

Mr MENZIES:
LP

– The honorable member has asked whether the terms of reference of the inquiry will include such matters as loading equipment, port facilities and other subjects which arc obviously related to the use of shipping in Australia. The answer, of course, is that it would he foolish to appoint, any body to investigate our shipping problem h without inviting him to examine such matters. That has been always understood, and I am astonished to hear that, there has been any ‘doubt about it. I have no doubt that, in order to make a complete survey, the expert would like to visit most, if not all, of the ports of Australia and he will be encouraged to do so. In reply to the final question, I am not prepared at this stage to enter into any preliminary financial commitment in respect of any recommendation that may arise from the inquiry.

page 491

QUESTION

DISALLOWED QUESTION

Mr. Freeth having asked a question of the Minister for External Affairs,

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! There is a standing order which provides that any question in relation to the character or the conduct of any person outside the House must be asked upon notice.

page 491

QUESTION

OIL FROM SHALE

Mr KEKWICK:
BASS, TASMANIA

– Can the Minister for Supply confirm the reports that have been circulated to the effect that the refinery at Glen Davis will be transferred to Bell Bay in Tasmania and used in conjunction with the aluminium project there?

Mr BEALE:
Minister for Supply · PARRAMATTA, NEW SOUTH WALES · LP

– The Government has decided that the distillation plant at Glen Davis shall be transferred to Bell Bay and operated there by the Government, in conjunction with .the aluminium project. Some of the details of the transfer have yet to be decided. As a result of the transfer, we shall be able to produce 16,000,000 or 17,000,000 gallons of petrol a year by refining crude oil in the plant. The present production of petrol at Glen Davis is approximately 2,750,000 gallons a year. We shall be able to produce petrol in Tasmania at approximately 2s. a gallon instead of 4s. a gallon, which is the present cost of production at Glen Davis. The residual gases will be used by the aluminium project, thereby saving a great deal of coal and reducing the cost of aluminium ingots. Aluminium cannot be manufactured without petroleum coke. The only source of supply of petroleum coke in Australia is the Glen Davis distillation plant. No petroleum coke is at present available to us from anywhere else in the world. When the plant has been transferred to Bell Bay, petroleum coke for the aluminium project will be available on the spot and we shall be able to SH V approximately ?37,000 a. year in respect of freight charges on such coke.

page 491

QUESTION

D.AIRYING

Mr MINOGUE:
WEST SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Oan the Minister for Commerce and Agriculture tell me where an ex-naval officer, Edward Williams, of 195a Castlereagh-street, Sydney, can buy 1^ lb. of butter?

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable gentleman is asking a question in regard to the conduct of a person who is not a member of this House. Notice must be given of such questions.

Mr MINOGUE:

– By way. of explanation

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable gentleman must give notice of his question if it relates to the conduct of a person who is not a member of this House.

Mr MINOGUE:

– Mr. Williams is at present attending Sydney Hospital-

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! It does not matter what he is doing. The Standing Orders must be obeyed.

Mr MINOGUE:

– May I ask tho Minister from where a diabetic can obtain butter?

Mr SPEAKER:

– The honorable member will be in order if he does that.

Mr MINOGUE:

– This man has to attend Sydney Hospital twice daily for insulin treatment. He cannot get any butter, although he has tried to buy it at almost every shop in Sydney, including David Jones Limited. Will the Minister consider what can be done to assist Mr. Williams to obtain butter?

Mr McEWEN:
Minister for Commerce and Agriculture · MURRAY, VICTORIA · CP

– As the honorable member knows, the Australian Government has no power to ration butter. I have not the slightest doubt that, if a person of the status of the honorable member for West Sydney were to intervene on behalf of his constituent, he would encounter no difficulty in securing butter for him.

page 492

QUESTION

DAYLIGHT SAVING

Mr FALKINDER:
FRANKLIN, TASMANIA

– In view of the present power shortage in this country, will the Prime Minister consider, in consultation with the State Premiers, the introduction of daylight saving as a means of partly relieving the shortage?

Mr MENZIES:
LP

– The honorable member’s suggestion will be considered. general macarthur.

Mr MULCAHY:
LANG, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Will the Prime Minister consider renewing the invitation that was extended by the late Mr. Curtin and subsequently by the late Mr. Chifley to General MacArthur to visit Australia in order that the people of this country may have an opportunity to express their thanks to him for the part that he played during the war against the Japanese ?

Mr MENZIES:

– The Government has not lost sight of this matter, but, as the honorable member will realize, recent events have somewhat added to the difficulty of doing what he desires to be done.

page 492

QUESTION

SOCIAL SERVICES

Mr PEARCE:
CAPRICORNIA, QUEENSLAND

– I. ask the Minister for Social Services whether he will give consideration to relieving the plight of people living in country areas who, because they suffer from mental disorders, voluntarily enter, institutions for the treatment of mental diseases in order to obtain shock or specialist treatment? At present, the social services benefits that are normally payable to such people cease while they are receiving treatment. Country people have no facilities available for treatment in their home towns and are required to enter institutions in the cities, to the financial distress of their dependants.

Mr TOWNLEY:
Minister for Social Services · DENISON, TASMANIA · LP

– Of all the problems of the unfortunate people who are. dealt with by my department the most grievous are probably those of the mentally afflicted. Under existing procedure these people enter State institutions and the Australian Government provides for their support. For obvious reasons, it is not desirable that the Government should continue to pay them money after they have entered an institution. Some of them are able to handle a certain amount of money themselves and their ability to do so is considered in all individual cases. The Government also pays for their transport and any other incidental expenses that may be incurred on the journey to and from the hospital. I shall consider the matter that the honorable member has raised and ascertain whether the Government can do any more for these people than it is doing now.

Mr DRUMMOND:
NEW ENGLAND, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Is the Minister for Social Services aware that there is a very considerable shortage of labour in the. Australian community? Does he know that many age pensioners endeavour to augment their incomes by engaging in casual work according to their strength and ability? Has his attention been drawn to the fact that the practice adopted by his department of penalizing those who earn more than a certain amount of money has tended to create an economic waste by preventing such people from working? Is he yet able to say whether consideration has been given to the proposal that I put forward that, provided applicants for age pensions are eligible to receive the benefit, they shall not be penalized so long as the present shortage of labour in the community exists if they earn additional income in excess of a specified amount?

Mr TOWNLEY:

– We have given considerable thought to the matter that the honorable member has raised, and departmental officers are now working intensively on a review of all aspects of social services benefits with a view to rectifying all the anomalies that have become apparent, including the specific anomaly that the honorable member has mentioned. I am hopeful that before the year ends provision will be made to utilize the labour pool to which he has referred.

Mr FITZGERALD:
PHILLIP, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Having regard to the numerous statements that the Minister for Social Services and his colleagues have made with respect to the means test since the Government assumed office, is he able to say whether he intends to evolve a plan to enable the Parliament to abolish that test or to liberalize the conditions of its application? When can the Parliament expect that the Government will bring down proposals to increase age, invalid, widow’s and war pensions?

Mr TOWNLEY:

– If the honorable member refers to the Governor-General’s Speech he will see that reference is made in it, as a matter of Government policy, to the subject that he has raised, and, as he is aware, I should not be in order, under Standing Order 144, if I were to reply to a question of the kind that he has asked.

page 493

QUESTION

CORTISONE

Mr BRYSON:
WILLS, VICTORIA

– Will the Minister for Health inform the House of the present position in regard to the supply of the drug, cortisone? Can he state when this drug will be placed on the list of free life-saving drugs?

Sir EARLE PAGE:
Minister for Health · COWPER, NEW SOUTH WALES · CP

– The circumstances in relation to the drug, cortisone, have not changed since I made a statement on the subject’ in this House three or four months ago. Supplies which are being obtained from, the Merck organization, the only makers of it, are being availed of to the greatest possible extent in the treatment of those who are afflicted with arthritic diseases. As experiments in the use of this drug proceed it will be possible to determine whether it is safe to classify it as a free life-saving drug for general use. As soon as a favorable report has been received the drug will be included in the free list if recommended by the Special Medical Advisory Committee.

page 493

QUESTION

DRIED FRUITS

Mr DOWNER:
ANGAS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

– Can the Minister for Commerce and Agriculture state when the report of the Division of Agricultural Economics on the dried fruits industry which was completed last year will be made public? Will the Minister be able to announce soon whether any financial assistance will be forthcoming for growers whose fruit was damaged by rain during the 1950 harvest?

Mr McEWEN:
MURRAY, VICTORIA · CP

– The report to which the honorable member has referred is now available and I shall .have one sent to him immediately. Officials of my department have been negotiating with representatives of the dried fruits industry on the subject of the making of a government allowance in order to compensate the growers for rain damage to fruit. After some discus sion the representatives of the industry expressed a desire to change the ground upon which they were making their claims. I understand that the industry’s representatives are now preparing their new case and, as soon as I am in possession of it, it will be brought before the Cabinet for consideration.

page 493

QUESTION

WOOL

Mr KEON:
YARRA, VICTORIA

– Has the attention of the Minister for Commerce and Agriculture been drawn to the following statement which appeared in the monthly summary of Australian conditions which was issued by the National Bank of Australasia during June: -

During the season now ending a process of widespread re-adjustment has been taking place throughout rural industry in response to the sharp uplift in wool prices. This has led to a withholding of sheep from slaughter, to the turning over of dairying and agricultural lands to sheep grazing and, by increasing the demand for table poultry, has even” affected egg supplies.

In view of the manner in which the disruption of primary production occasioned by the present wool prices has accentuated the butter shortage and led to fantastic prices being charged for lamb and other meat, does the Minister intend to adhere to his party’s policy of refraining from interfering with private enterprise by the imposition of controls; or does he propose to take action to offset the effect of the high price of wool upon the supply and price of meat, butter, eggs and other necessaries? If so, what action does he propose to take ?

Mr McEWEN:
MURRAY, VICTORIA · CP

– I have not seen the report from which the honorable member has quoted, but I could agree that substantially, it describes a trend that has evidenced itself in Australian agriculture during the last year, the cause of which is also, to a very measurable degree, as stated in the report, the relative ‘attractiveness of wool-growing in comparison with other primary industries. The Government is concerned about this matter to which it is devoting its attention. However, the Government might be helped if the honorable member would expose his own thinking on the matter. Does he suggest that the Australian wool industry be made less profitable to the people .engaged in it ?’

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order!

Mr FULLER:
HUME, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Will the Minister for Commerce and Agriculture give the House any information he has about the estimated profit that is likely to be. available for distribution to woolgrowers following the winding-up of the Joint Organization, which will commence at the end of this month? In view of the difficulty of completing the accounts at an early date, will the Government make a distribution of at least So per cent, of the profits which it is estimated will accrue? What was the total amount of the interim distribution of Joint Organization profits made by the Chifley Government in 1949 ?

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! That question obviously should be placed on the notice-paper.

Mr McEWEN:
CP

– I am able to inform the honorable member for Hume that the day before the general election in 1949, the Chifley Government distributed £25,000,000 to wool-growers. The estimated profits that remain amount to approximately £60,000,000. The Government has announced that it intends to distribute in full to wool-growers who have left the industry their share of those profits. I stated in the House last week that the policy to be pursued in the distribution of the balance of the profits will be considered by the Government at a comparatively early date. A decision will then be announced.

page 494

QUESTION

SULPHATE OF COPPER

Mr WHEELER:
MITCHELL, NEW SOUTH WALES

– In directing a question to the Minister for Commerce and Agriculture I inform him by way of explanation that primary producers in my division are seriously concerned about the lack of supplies of sulphate of copper which is used, among other purposes, to combat mildew in the vine-growing industry. Can the Minister state whether there is any likelihood of an improvement of supplies of that commodity, and whether improved supplies may soon be available?

Mr McEWEN:
CP

– I and my department are aware of the problem presented to certain rural industries, including agricultural, horticultural and live-stock industries, by the current shortage of sulphate of copper. The whole of the available supplies of that material in Australia are being directed for use in our primary industries. Government officials in various parts of the world are engaged in trying to procure supplies of sulphate of copper, in the sterling area if possible but, failing that, in the dollar area. There is a world-wide shortage of the commodity at present, but the principal Australian producing company, Electrolytic Refining and Smelting Company of Australia Limited, at Port Kembla, has planned expansions in hand which, 1 understand, will probably result in the Australian demand being entirely supplied from that quarter by the end of this year. In the meantime, the Government will take every possible step to make good the deficiency by imports.

page 494

QUESTION

THE PARLIAMENT

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– Is it a fact, Mr. Speaker, that Standing Order 303 of this House is patterned on a standing order of the House of Commons thai is used only in exceptional cases where a member loses control of himself, in order to permit the Speaker to deal with such a case without having to wait for the House to go through the process of carrying a motion for suspension ?

Mr JEFF BATE:
MACARTHUR, NEW SOUTH WALES · LP; IND from Oct. 1972

– That was not the one he used on you.

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– Yes, it was !

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable member will complete his question.

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– Is an offence covered by Standing Order 303 more serious than an offence covered by Standing Order 300 (fc) ?

Mr SPEAKER:

– The Standing Orders were adopted by the House last year. There is no doubt whatever on the relative importance in the House of Commons procedure of the two standing orders mentioned. If any honorable gentleman will take the trouble to study May’s Parliamentary Practice he will discover that the exclusion of a member from the House by the Speaker of the House of Commons is done immediately and peremptorily, and is a minor penalty. If a major penalty is to be imposed, the Standing Orders provide that wherever the Speaker is of the opinion that the authority and dignity of the House would not be properly upheld by the use of the standing order that we know as Standing Order 303, then he will name the member to the House. The distinction is, that if the member is ejected from the proceedings under Standing Order 303 the matter can be reviewed by the Speaker, as was done in this House last year. If he is ejected from the House by naming, that action cannot be reviewed by either the Speaker or by the House, because a decision of the House, except after some delay, can only be reviewed upon seven days’ notice. I assure the honorable member from my vast, varied and unrivalled experience of these things, that that is the position.

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– By way of a supplementary question I ask you, Mr. Speaker, whether it is a fact that Standing Order 303 is patterned on a certain standing order of the United Kingdom House of Commons, which was introduced as the result of an incident in which a member of the House of Commons threatened the Speaker with violence? In the event of a similar occurrence in this chamber, Mr. Speaker, will you invoke Standing Order 303 or Standing Order 300 (6) ?

Mr SPEAKER:

– I assure the honorable member that, in such an eventuality. I would not use any standing order.

page 495

QUESTION

FOOD PARCELS

Mr SWARTZ:
DARLING DOWNS, QUEENSLAND

– Can the PostmasterGeneral say whether there have been any recent discussions between the Australian Government and the United Kingdom Government regarding the restoration of special conditions for the handling of food parcels to a basis similar to that previously in existence? Is the honorable gentleman aware that there are many people in Australia who are desirous of sending food parcels to Great Britain, but find that the present postage rates are too high and that delivery is uncertain and slow? If no such consideration is contemplated in the near future, could the matter be taken up with the United Kingdom Government to ascertain whether a scheme similar to the original one could be introduced.’

Mr ANTHONY:
CP

– No discussions are taking place with either the United Kingdom Government or the postal authorities about this matter, because such action is scarcely necessary. At present about 1,000,000 food parcels a year are being sent* to Great Britain from Australia, at a cost of about 5s. 7d. for a parcel weighing up to 11 lb. An 11 lb. parcel sent from the United . Kingdom to Australia would cost not less than 12s. 6d. in postal charges. Therefore, it will be seen that a very substantial concession is being made by our own postal authorities. For delivery of these parcels we utilize every ship and every means of conveyance available to us, and I am informed- that deliveries are as prompt as the means at our disposal permit.

page 495

QUESTION

BANKING

Mr MORGAN:
REID, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Has it been brought to the attention of the Treasurer that the special frozen funds of private trading banks lodged with the Commonwealth Bank reached the phenomenal figure of £586,000,000 at the end of last May, and that this constituted a new record? This sum represents an increase of £12,000,000 during the ten weeks ended the 30th May, a total increase of £124,000,000 during the last year and £197,000,000 during the last two years. In view of this situation, why has home-building finance been restricted by the Commonwealth Bank and the private banks? Could not some of this money be made available for home building purposes? Why is there any necessity for the hardening of interest rates as indicated by the reports of the Loan Council meeting?

Sir ARTHUR FADDEN:
Treasurer · MCPHERSON, QUEENSLAND · CP

– The utilization of any of the money in the special accounts set up by the Banking Act 1945, or regulations under it, would defeat the object for which those accounts were set up. I know that representations have been made that building societies and such bodies should have part of that fund made available for their own purnoses. That cannot be done, because if it were the purpose for which the fund was formed would be defeated. As far as the hardening of the interest rate is concerned, or anything else that concerns the Australian Loan Council, I have nothing to add to the ‘ statement that I made yesterday in reply to a question by the Leader of the Opposition.

page 496

QUESTION

CIVIL AVIATION

Mr DRAKEFORD:
MARIBYRNONG, VICTORIA

– I ask the Minister for Civil Aviation whether Trans- Australia Airlines and Qantas Empire Airways are still paying landing fees or air route charges to the Department of Civil Aviation or to any governmental authority in respect of the use of air ports, or air routes, that they use in providing their respective services? Has Australian National Airways Proprietary Limited or Ansett Airways Proprietary Limited or any of the non-subsidized airline companies paid such landing fees or air route charges? If so, can he name the companies that are paying them ? If such charges have not yet been paid, or if their imposition is the subject of litigation or negotiation, can he say whether the Government intends to place all nonsubsidized private airlines on the same footing as Government airlines with respect to landing fees and air route charges; and, if so, when does it intend to take such action?

Mr ANTHONY:
CP

– As the honorable member has implied in the first part of the question that he has asked, Trans- Australia Airlines and Qantas Empire Airways are paying air route charges whilst some, but not all, of the other private airline companies are not paying such charges pending the court’s decision upon the validity of the relevant regulations. At the moment the matter is the subject of litigation and also of negotiation. Those discussions are still proceeding. I hope to be able to clarify the position within ‘the near future. *

page 496

QUESTION

TELEPHONE SERVICES

Mr LESLIE:
MOORE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

– Can the PostmasterGeneral say whether, in accordance with the Government’s policy of improving telephonic communications in rural areas, approval has already been given for the installation of many rural automatic exchanges in addition to those that are at present being installed? Is the installation of these approved exchanges dependent upon the availability of the requisite Apparatus and is such apparatus in short supply or, in fact, unobtainable? Can the Minister indicate what proportion of the apparatus is manufactured in Australia and to what degree its procurement is affected by present industrial conditions in this country or in overseas countries ?

Mr ANTHONY:
CP

– The honorable member and other honorable members who represent rural electorates know what a tremendous demand there is for the installation of rural automatic exchanges. The experience of the department has been that following the installation of an exchange in one locality adjacent communities immediately request that similar facilities be provided for them. The automatic exchange which provides a 24-hour service is, indeed, the answer to the problem of telephonic communications in communities that are now served by nonofficial post offices which close daily at 6 p.m. Last year, the department installed a record number of rural automatic exchanges but our ability to increase the rate of installation depends upon the availability of the exchanges, of which all our requirements are manufactured, in the United Kingdom. We have placed the maximum number of orders that manufacturers will accept, and we are installing the units as rapidly as conditions permit, but, unfortunately, the rate of installation is not anything like equal to the demand.

Mr CLARK:
DARLING, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Will the PostmasterGeneral inform me when his department proposes to proceed with the installation of radio telephones to enable persons who live in the outback districts to be connected with the ordinary telephone services? I understand that experiments have been carried out at Broken Hill, and that the department is quite satisfied with the results and is now in a position to proceed with the installations.

Mr ANTHONY:

– It is true that experiments have been carried out at Broken Hill and at other places with a view to providing radio telephone facilities for outback areas, such as Tibooburra and White Cliffs in the electorate of Darling, and at other places along the river Darling, which would have no telephone facilities were it not for the radio telephone link. The tests have’ proved quite satisfactory. It is proposed to establish a base at Broken Hill and bases at the other places which I have mentioned, to enable subscribers who live on outback stations to be connected, not only with Broken Hill, but also with the entire Australian network of telephone services. It is taking a good deal of effort to secure the necessary apparatus, and it is expected that it will be about twelve months before that service will be operating.

page 497

QUESTION

AERIAL SURVEY QF AUSTRALIA

Mr FALKINDER:

– My question to the Minister for Civil Aviation relates to the aerial survey which is being conducted of Australia. Will he inform me whether that survey has been curtailed in any way? If it has been curtailed, what is the reason for that action?

Mr ANTHONY:
CP

– I have no knowledge of the curtailment of the aerial survey of Australia, but I shall ascertain the position for the honorable member.

page 497

QUESTION

SUPERANNUATION

Mr COSTA:
BANKS, NEW SOUTH WALES

– On the 8th December, 1950, I asked the Prime Minister a. question about the advisability of amending the Superannuation Act. I explained at that time that some retired public servants, particularly telegraphists, who had been employed in the PostmasterGeneral’s Department, had returned to work during. World War II., and that, by so doing, they had deprived themselves of their superannuation pensions. I asked that provision be made for retrospective compensation to be granted to those persons when the Superannuation Act was next amended. The Prime Minister replied that legislation would be submitted to the Parliament in the following session, but the double dissolution terminated the sittings before amending legislation was introduced. Will the right honorable gentleman now inform me whether he intends to fulfil that promise? If he does intend, to fulfil it, when will the. relevant legislation be introduced?

Mr MENZIES:
LP

– I shall ascertain the position, and inform the honorable member of the result.

page 497

QUESTION

TAXATION

Mr WARD:
EAST SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

– Will the Treasurer state whether there is any basis for the current rumour that the Government does not intend to proceed with its legislation to tax excess profits? If that report is correct, can he tell me the name of the pressure group which has been responsible for that change of policy?

Sir ARTHUR FADDEN:
CP

– All rumours and all anticipations will be resolved in the budget.

page 497

QUESTION

PRICES CONTROL

Mr DAVIES:
CUNNINGHAM, NEW SOUTH WALES

– I desire to ask the Prime Minister a question relative to the dangerous inflationary trend that is in evidence in the Commonwealth to-day. Is it a fact that it is impossible for the States to control prices satisfactorily, and has that fact been admitted by all the State Ministers who administer prices control? Is it also a fact that every State has asked the Prime Minister to agree to the Commonwealth taking over prices control but that so far the Government has not agreed to do so? Will the right honorable gentleman agree to the ‘Commonwealth resuming prices control, as suggested by the States? If his answer to the last question is in the negative, will he provide an opportunity for a referendum to be conducted upon the matter as early as possible, so as to prevent further inflation?

Mr MENZIES:
LP

– I cannot undertake to state what may be in the minds of State Ministers who administer prices control, but subject to that, my general impression is that my answer to the other questions asked by the honorable gentleman should be “ No “. If I later find that such an impression is wrong, I shall correct it.

page 497

QUESTION

HOUSING

Mr CREMEAN:
HODDLE, VICTORIA

– My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. When a contract for imported prefabricated houses it let) and its terms include foreign labour to erect them, is an extensive security check made of the workmen who arc brought to Australia? Under what terms, or time conditions, is the entry of foreign workers in the foregoing category permitted ?

Mr MENZIES:
LP

– The Minister for Immigration will answer that question.

Mr HOLT:
Minister for Immigration · HIGGINS, VICTORIA · LP

– My understanding of the position is that a permit is sought from the Department of Immigration for authority to carry out such an arrangement, and it is usual then for provision to be made for our officers overseas to co-operate in the selection of the labour. However, I shall ascertain whether I can obtain precise details of the position for the honorable member.

page 498

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY

Mr GULLETT:
HENTY, VICTORIA

– Has the Minister for the Navy seen the reports in the press -

Mr SPEAKERS:

– Order ! Questions may not be based on press reports.

Mr GULLETT:

– Has the Minister anything to tell the House about the reported sabotage to H.M.A.S. Sydney ? Is there any truth in that rumour, which has been circulating? In particular, are such reports as have reached us substantially correct and has he anything further to add to them?

Mr FRANCIS:
Minister for the Army · MORETON, QUEENSLAND · LP

– If the honorable member will read the newspapers a little more carefully-

Mr SPEAKER:

-Order !

Mr FRANCIS:

– The reports that have appeared were based on a press statement which I issued. I regret very much to say that, on the 21st June, portion of the radar equipment on H.M.A.S. Sydney was maliciously damaged by somebody. Much of the mechanical and electrical equipment was destroyed or damaged. However, I am happy to say that all the parts that are needed to repair the equipment are available in Australia and that repairs can be carried out within eight or ten days. This will not interfere with the departure of the vessel to relieve H.M.S. Glory in Korean waters. I believe that this incident must convince the Parliament, and people throughout Australia, that we have enemies closer to us than has been generally believed.

page 498

QUESTION

FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE

Mr CLARK:

– In directing a question to the Minister for Civil Aviation, I point out that the flying doctor service is anxious to obtain modern aircraft which are more suited to its needs than are the machines which it now uses. Those responsible for the service are endeavouring to raise funds for this purpose, and I ask the Minister whether the Department of Civil Aviation is prepared to make a substantial contribution to the service in order to enable new machines to be acquired ?

Mr ANTHONY:
CP

– I do not think that it is the custom to make such contributions.

page 498

QUESTION

PASSPORTS

Mr ROSEVEAR:

– I ask the Minister for Immigration a question which has reference to the youths, most of whom are under the age of 21 years, who have left Australia to attend a Communistcontrolled conference in Berlin. What action does the Minister propose to take in relation to their passports? Does he propose merely to cancel them and, if so, is it expected that this will have any more effect on future excursions into Communist territory than similar action has had in the past?

Mr HOLT:
LP

– The action which was taken in relation to persons who previously attended congresses in Communist countries will be repeated in the case of the Australians who attend the Berlin youth festival. Their passports will be cancelled and impounded. The honorable gentleman has asked what effect this will have on any future excursions of the same nature. At least it will have the effect that the same individuals will not be able to travel abroad for a similar purpose again unless they are able to do so without the proper documents. I have previously explained to the House the details of this policy and the reasons for its adoption. Australia has gone further in this regard than has any other country within the British Commonwealth. I am not aware that the Government could do anything more within the limits of the powers that are at present available to it.

page 498

QUESTION

MR. P. JOSKE, K.C

Mr KEON:

– Has the attention of the Prime Minister been drawn to the statement that was made last Saturday by Mr. Percy Joske, K.C., after his endorsement as the Liberal candidate for the Balaclava electorate, to the effect that he considered that the most important task in front of him related to housing and that one of the first matters that he would tackle would be the ineptitude and incompetence of this Government and the State governments in relation to housing? Will the Prime Minister tell me whether the reason for Mr. Joske’-s selection by the Liberal party was his expressed determination to tackle the incompetence and ineptitude of the Government?

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! I have already stated that questions relating to the conduct of persons outside the Parliament must be asked upon notice.

Mr KEON:

– What action does the Prime Minister or the Minister for Works and Housing propose to take in order to correct the incompetence and ineptitude which, according to the endorsed Liberal candidate for Balaclava, characterize their activities?

Mr MENZIES:
LP

– I regret to say that, as I . have not read the statement that has been attributed to Mr. Joske, I am not able to answer the rest of the question. I have observed with very great pleasure that Mr. Joske has been selected as the Liberal candidate for Balaclava because I believe that he will be an ornament to this House.

page 499

KOREA

Mr MENZIES:
Prime Minister · Kooyong · LP

– by leave - Since 1950 we have, as a member nation of the United Nations, been represented in Korea not only by air and naval forces, but also by the Third Royal Australian Regiment. Its record has been, and is, magnificent. It has earned the highest praise. It has done much hard fighting, and has sustained substantial . casualties. By those most competent to form a judgment, its morale is reported to be high. Indeed, the final proof of morale and efficiency comes in this morning’s news that thi3 fine battalion has received the special presidential citation, the highest honour which the United States of America can confer on any military formation. Commencing from a date about two months ago, a section of the Australian press ha3 given great publicity to allegations by one or two press correspondents, the burden of which is that the battalion has been neglected; that there has been in adequate leave; that repeatedly wounded men have been returned to duty; that reinforcements have been inadequate or unsuitable; and so on. One newspaper went so far as to say that, unless relieved immediately, “ the Australian battalion in Korea . . . will become a battle fatigued unit of tired and neurotic men “. The Minister for the Army (Mr. Francis) has, from time to time, on the best expert advice available from both Korea and Japan and here in Australia, answeredthese criticisms. In view, however, of the deep anxiety which must have been caused to relatives by the controversy, I. myself decided to peruse the complaints and all the reports received in respect of them, and I then decided to make a statement to the House.

The first thing that I want to say is that the Government has confidence in the skill, experience and soldierly qualities of General Robertson, the commanding officer of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, and Colonel Ferguson, who has been commanding the regiment so ably in the field. One of the first duties and desires of each, in his respective sphere, is to see to the proper treatment of his men. That there will be some grievances is inevitable. It would be surprising if there were not. But that either the general or the colonel should be either indifferent or incompetent is unthinkable to anybody who knows their respective records. My own golden rule on these matters is quite simple. It can be stated as follows : - “ Support the man who shoulders the responsibilities until you have reason to suppose that he is unfit to carry them. If you have such reason, remove him. But, in the name of common sense, do not undermine him by creating or allowing to be created the impression that, while you will not remove him, you will not support him either.” In the light of these conditions, let me put on record certain facts, which will. I hope, speak for themselves.

The battalion has not always fought at full establishment. The strength of individual sub-units ‘ has been reduced at times, during and immediately after battle. That is always the case with forces in action. Owing to congestion on the lines of communication, there have been inevitable delays in getting reinforcements forward from the base in Korea or from Japan. Honorable members will appreciate that such delays were inevitable when they compare the size of our force with that of the total force that is supplied by the lines of communications. In addition, reinforcements cannot be accepted by and properly absorbed into a unit during the progress of a battle. But the battalion has consistently fought at a very much higher strength than did any unit of the Australian Military Forces in previous wars over a similar period. The Commander-in-Chief, British Commonwealth Occupation Force, has examined the daily strength returns of all United Nations forces in Korea and has reported that no other battalion in the whole force has been as consistently maintained at such a high strength, in proportion to its establishment, over a period of eight months. He has stated also that General MacArthur, shortly before his departure, commented upon the consistently high strength of the battalion.

A very large pool of reinforcements had been established in Japan before the Australian battalion moved to Korea. On the 10th April, Brigadier King, the second-in-command of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, informed a conference of general officers in Melbourne that at that time there were on hand and in sight adequate reinforcements to meet requirements at intense rates for two months and at normal rates for seven and a half months. However, there was abnormally heavy wastage, running beyond what might be called intense rates, during April, especially in the battle that took place on Anzac Day. That wastage amounted to 171 from all causes, including 99 battle casualties. This abnormally high wastage led for the first time to a situation in which the number of fit reinforcements immediately available was barely sufficient to maintain the battalion at its maximum establishment. However, corrective action had already been taken, and 40 reinforcements had been ordered forward by air from Australia during April. After hearing of the heavy wastage in April and the large number of reinforcements in Japan who were temporarily unfit, a further 160 reinforcements were ordered forward by air from Australia on the 2nd May.

Their movement began on the -15th May and was completed by the end of the month. Therefore, there were, throughout the course ‘of some of the fiercest criticism, more than enough reinforcements in Japan to meet even an intense rate of casualties. The flow will be continued at a high rate.

It has been asked whether the troops are properly trained. LieutenantGeneral Robertson has informed us that he knows of no basis - for -allegations that reinforcements have arrived in Korea without having received adequate training. All troops, before they are even eligible for selection for service in Korea, must have had at least three months basic training in a recruit unit in Australia. This applies also to tradesmen destined for duty in their special capacities with pioneer units. In any event, honorable members will agree that badly trained troops could not have performed as the Australian troops in Korea have done in the most difficult circumstances.

The quota of leave for the battalion has always been the same as for other components of the United Nations forces, which is five days in Japan as and when the operational and transport situation permits. It is hoped that this will work out in future at approximately one leave period every four months. There is little doubt that thousands of Australians who fought in World War I. and World War II. will be able to quote examples of long service without leave which far exceed in severity the examples from Korea. It is not always possible to send unlimited numbers of men on leave when the unit is required in the forward area, nor can unlimited numbers of reinforcements be absorbed in replacement of men who are away for only five days at a time. Such a course of action might well lead not only to heavier casualties but also to the temporary destruction or impairment of the fighting prowess of the unit. It is incorrect to say that leave arrangements for the Austraiian forces have been restricted because of insufficient reinforcements, although they have at times been restricted by operations and by transport shortage.

No unit in Korea has been allotted a greater proportion of leave than has the Australian battalion. In the middle of

May, the total number of men who had been in Korea without leave for not less than six months was 320 out of an establishment of 978. The CommanderinChief, British Commonwealth Occupation Force, compared these figures with those of American units and found them much the same.

The Government is, however, so reluctant to expose Australian troops to the rigours of two successive Korean winters that it has decided that no man who fought in Korea during the major portion of last winter will be required to fight there next winter, unless he expressly elects to do so. If, at the end of eight months’ service in Korea, a man has completed at least two years overseas, he will be eligible for return to Australia. If, on completion of eight months in Korea, he has not served overseas for two years, he will be given not less than thro’* weeks’ leave in Japan. After this leave, he will return to Korea for not more than four months, at the end of which time he will be eligible for return either to Japan or Australia. In other words no man will be asked to serve for more than twelve months in Korea in a total of two years before returning to Australia ; and any man who completes two years abroad during his first eight months in Korea will return to Australia at the end of that eight months. This relief scheme, together with the very generous leave arrangements already in force, will require the enlistment of yet another 600 volunteers in Australia on a short-service, two-year basis.

A while ago Brigadier T. C. Eastick, of South Australia, was sent to Korea as an independent investigator by the federal executive of the Returned Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen’s Imperial League of Australia. On the 23rd May, the executive issued the following statement : -

The Federal Executive, after hearing the report of Mr. Eastick on his recent visit to Korea, is satisfied that in all leave centres excellent facilities were available, and there was an abundance of amenities. On 20th April, when Mr. Eastick left Japan, adequate reinforcements to the 3rd Battalion were available in Japan to cope with all ordinary contingencies. From the report, the Executive is quite satisfied that no other Array has been so well looked after. There is no shortage of arms, equipment, clothing, or rations. Until the Anzac Day push, good leave arrangements to Japan were operating, and the Federal Executive has sufficient faith in the CommanderinChief to feel that adequate arrangements would continue to be made.

The Government decided last October that members of the Korean force would not be liable to tax on their military pay, and the Commissioner of Taxation has since authorized the anticipation of necessary legislation to give effect thereto. District allowances in Australia have been referred to in the course of some criticisms. Army personnel living in isolated areas such as Darwin, Woomera, &c, receive district allowance in addition to pay to compensate for difficult conditions of life in those places. Men in Korea do not get district allowances but get concessions in other directions, including deferred pay. gratuity pay, taxation concessions and the like that more than compensate them.

The Government has declared as its policy that, on discharge, repatriation and post-war benefits should, as a general rule, be not less favorable for men with Korean service than for . those serving in the 1939-45 war. The Treasury Finance Committee, which consists of the permanent heads of the three Service departments and the Treasury, is now reviewing the whole range of these conditions and will shortly make a recommendation to Cabinet through the Treasurer. The matter has also been taken up by the Minister for Repatriation (Senator Cooper).

Finally, I am now in a position to give the House some details of a report that was presented to me only a few hours ago by Major-General Morris, the DirectorGeneral of Medical Services and a man of great experience in war, who returned from Korea and Japan early this week. Major-General Norris has been informed by the resident medical officer of No. 3 Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment that all casualties have been cleared from the battle areas even under the most difficult operational conditions. No man, he was told, was returned to the unit unless a medical officer considered him fit to do so. In other words, only class A men were drafted for action. MajorGeneral Norris’s report continues -

I have visited every hospital in Korea through which our troops have passed. Each commanding officer assured me that patients returned to units were medically examined and declared fit to do so. From unit records, nine nien have been returned to the battalion after being wounded twice. One of these remained on duty with the first wound. There is no record of any man being wounded more than twice and returning to the unit.

Major-General Norris told me in conversation that a qualification was required to that statement. He believed that there was a record of one man who was wounded three times but whose first wound was so superficial ‘that he did not cease duty. Therefore, for all substantial purposes, what I have just stated is correct. The report continues - 1 visited all the Australian patients available in the various medical units in Korea. In my opinion all were adequately cared for. J. heard no complaints. I am convinced that no discrimination is made in the care and attention given to the United Nations casualties. In respect to the medical facilities the force is truly a United Nations one.

The general then gave some particulars in order to indicate the quality of the medical service which is equally available to American, Australian, United Kingdom and other troops. He reported as follows : -

The efficiency of the medical service may be assessed from the following results: Approximately 500 men were evacuated beyond the unit because of wounds received in action, accidental wounds, or injuries. Of these, nine died subsequently. Approximately 450 men were evacuated beyond the unit because of sickness. Of these, together with many times this number of minor ailments, one only died subsequently. Of those 950 evacuated beyond unit lines, approximately 350 were treated in Korea and returned to the battalion within three weeks. In a country where smallpox is prevalent, not one case has appeared among the Australian troops. From the information presented to me, this is a unique record among the components of the United Nations forces. No case of malarial infection contacted in Korea has appeared among any of the Australian troops. These results in such a difficult and diseased country as Korea are beyond any previous achievement on any action service. During service in Korea the battalion has not been constantly engaged in action with the enemy. On many occasions the unit has been in reserve. During operational periods involving long and difficult movements delays hud inevitably occurred in certain supplies, but never, apparently, in ammunition or rations. In an emergency, clothing, including boots, would be flown right into the most forward area. I was informed that Australian troops were given priority over American units in the issue of winter clothing.

So good has been the issue of winter clothing that cases of serious frost bite among Australian troops have been practically non-existent. The general continued -

The statements published in the press concerning amenities appear quite unjustified. The present leave conditions, some of which are available to the Australian troops, are keenly appreciated by the battalion.

The general then mentioned the leave centre in Tokyo which I myself inspected last year. He said -

At the leave centre in Tokyo, “ which I inspected, facilities are available for an initial hot bath, an issue of clean or new clothing, bar, reading, personal hygiene, conducted sight seeing and shopping tours, bathing pool, pictures and medical attention. In association with the B.C.O.F. general hospital the recuperation and convalescent centre at Mia Jima is beautifully sited and equipped with fishing, sailing and other recreational facilities. It would be surprising if, at the conclusion of the successful operations in which this battalion has been engaged there were not some signs of fatigue.. In addition, always, in any battle area, certain personnel new to such experience become disillusioned and dismayed. However the actual incidence of evacuation because of “ war neurosis “ was remarkably low. The commanding officer assured me that at no time bad he been embarrassed by any shortage of men available under his command and on the ground. The battalion strength submitted to me were far in advance of what we had generally experienced in the last war.

This is war. “War is a grim business. Even now, apparently, many do not realize the gravity of our obligations in Korea. I am sure that our troops in Korea will continue to represent us in the post of danger in a manner worthy of our highest traditions. It is our duty to give them all the support, material or moral, within our power.

Mr HAYLEN:
Parkes

- by leaveI believe that there is not an honorable member in this House who has not appreciated the manner in which the report concerning Australian forces in Korea has been presented. I daresay that no honorable member would believe that criticism of administration in relation to the small Australian force in Korea had been actuated by party political considerations. A jot of blame might be attached to politicians, but I do not think it can be said that they would make political capital of a matter of this kind. Although the report is extensive, it does not deal with the main issues as concisely and factually as one might have expected it to deal with them. After hearing this report, one would conclude that the war in Korea was being conducted in the best possible manner and that every phase of operations that had been investigated had been found to be in perfect order.

I imagine that the usual 64-dollar tour was made of these areas. The complaints nhat have been made concerning the treatment of Australian forces in Korea have been well substantiated, have been long standing and have often been repeated. The Minister for the Army (Mr. Francis) endeavoured to lull honorable members into a false sense of security when he stated, in February, that conditions relating to Australian forces in Korea were satisfactory. During the recess certain facts became known. Criticisms came, not only from honorable members on this side of the House but also from honorable members who support the Government, particularly the honorable member for Henty (Mr. Gullett) and the honorable member for Macarthur (Mr. Jeff Bate). Those honorable members voiced their concern over events in Korea and complained that they could obtain no statement of any significance from the Minister for the Army. Conditions went from bad to worse. Are honorable members to assume that half a dozen war correspondents who are dedicated to their duty sent these stories out of pure malice? After repeated challenges had been made to the Minister to state that the stories were incorrect, their accuracy was denied. If the Prime Minister contends that the reports of the war correspondents were incorrect, action should be taken against those correspondents. “What would induce a junior officer to break accepted standards of military conduct by making the statement that such an officer has made? Not desire for publicity, but his feelings concorning the urgent need of his comrades. He complained that men who had been wounded. had been returned to the lines several times. Lieutenant McDermott, of Bondi, said that wounded men had been returned to the lines on five occasions.

Mr Menzies:

– Is the honorable memher quoting McDermott ?

Mr HAYLEN:

– I think that that was the name given in the newspaper.

Mr Menzies:

– I hope that the honorable gentleman will vouch for the accuracy of what he is saying.

Mr HAYLEN:

– Honorable members do not want to know the accuracy of what he said so much as what was said in rebuttal by the Minister for the Army, who, at last, finding himself in a hopeless muddle, asked the Prime Minister to get him out of it. I do not think that any of these questions have been fully and validly answered. The Prime Minister will agree that a long statement about amenities and hospitals, while reading well, does not get back to the real issue, which is the complaint that men had to go back into the line after being wounded. On two occasions, the Prime Minister said, did he not-

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order! The honorable member should not ask questions.

Mr HAYLEN:

– We know that on two occasions wounded men went back into the line, because the Prime Minister said so, if I followed his statement correctly. Is that not so?

Mr Menzies:

– Nine men went back into the line.

Mr HAYLEN:

– Then that does establish that the reports were true.

Mr Menzies:

– Reports that men who had been wounded four or five times were sent back into the line were extravagantly false statements.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable member for Parkes should desist from asking questions. He asked for leave to make a statement.

Mr HAYLEN:

– The matter of neglect has not been fully disposed of, nor has that of misrepresentation by the press. I do not want to go into a lengthy dissertation on the matter. In my view, the statement itself was too long to be really genuine. It contained too many “ if s “ and “ buts “ and excuses, and was in effect a whitewashing of the Minister who is responsible, in the first place, for not being straightforward enough to tell the House that something was wrong. We do not blame the Minister for what happened in Korea, because, as the Prime Minister said, much may “happen in the stress of war. But let us be frank. The Minister was not frank. We had the series of stories about the Australian Battalion in Korea being neglected and about wounded men being sent back into the line, which was followed by Government assertions that the stories were misrepresentations, until the public insisted that something be done about the matter.

The final point I make is that asking groups of people in the Returned Servicemen’s League or any other organization to go on a tour and bring back a conclusion might or might not be valuable to the Government, but it would not be in the best interests of the services generally. Invariably reports obtained in that way coincide so much with what the Government wants that one even begins to suspect them. This matter is above any party political line. If we agree that the Prime Minister should make a statement on the matter then surely I am entitled to say that sections of that statement look very much like whitewashing. Some of his conclusions are most unfortunate and there is still a case to answer about what happened between the time at which these reports were made and the time when the “ brass “ got down to dressing the matter up for the Prime Minister. Finally, if the reports of senior representative pressmen were wrong, what is the Prime Minister going to do. about it?

page 504

QUESTION

GOVERNMENT BUSINESS

Precedence

Motion (by Mr. Eric J. Harrison) proposed -

That Government business shall take precedence over general business tomorrow.

Dr EVATT:
Leader of the Opposition · Barton

. - The Opposition does not propose to discuss this matter for more than a few moments. The only effect of it will be to postpone consideration of the notice of motion that stands in the name of the honorable member for Darling Downs (Mr. Swartz), which otherwise would come on to-morrow. That very important motion deals with soil erosion. I put it to the VicePresident of the Executive Council (Mr. Eric J. Harrison) that the private member’s day which normally will be on Thursday of next week be not interfered with, because that day will possibly provide the only opportunity for the discussion of private members’ business that will occur during the remainder of the sessional period. Further, I ask the Minister, who made certain intimations to my deputy, the honorable member for Melbourne (Mr. Calwell ), who is away to-day owing to illness, to make some re-arrangement of the business, in view of the lengthy statement that the Prime Minister (Mr. Menzies) made to-day, which was not contemplated by my colleague, and also in view of the facts that my colleague agreed that the secondreading debate on the Post and Telegraph Rates Bill 1951 should proceed to-morrow.

Mr ERIC J HARRISON:
Vice-President of the Executive Council and Minister for Defence Production · WENTWORTH, NEW SOUTH WALES · UAP; LP from 1944

– in reply - I assure the Leader of the Opposition (Dr. Evatt) that I am a great believer in giving private members an opportunity to express themselves. Therefore, I shall do all that I can to see that his suggestion shall be observed. I did not make an intimation to the honorable member for Melbourne (Mr. Calwell) but reached a general agreement with him. As the Supply Bills are mainly second-reading bills I propose that the maximum time this evening shall be devoted to the continuance of the second-reading debate rather than that we should proceed to the committee stage - which, I understand, is not desired by honorable members.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

page 504

POST AND TELEGRAPH RATES BILL 1951

Motion (by Mr. Anthony) agreed to -

That leave be given to bring in a bill for an act to amend the Post and Telegraph Rates Act 1902-1950.

Bill presented, and read a first time.

Second Reading

Mr ANTHONY:
PostmasterGeneral and Minister for Civil Aviation · Richmond · CP

. -by leave - I move -

That thebill be now read a second time.

This bill proposes by means of an amendment of the Post and Telegraph Rates Act 1902-1950 to enable certain postal and telegraph rates to be increased to a level that is necessary to meet the expenditure involved in providing, maintaining and operating services. Honorable members will recall that. certain Postal Department charges were adjusted by the Chifley Government in July, 1949, and by the present Government in December, 1950, for the purpose of bringing them more into line with progressively increasing costs. These were the only adjustments that had been made since 1941, and they represented an overall increase of 35 per cent, in Postal Department tariffs over a period of ten years. I ask honorable members to bear this percentage in mind in connexion with the facts that I now propose to place before them. When I presented the 1950 bill, I pointed out that despite the increases dealt with in the bill, a heavy deficit for. the current financial year was inevitable, but that the Government had decided to approach the matter on an interim basis and to review it again in the light of actual results and the precise effect of the revised tariffs. I also informed honorable members that a further statement would be made to the Parliament after the effect of the basic wage judgment on departmental expenditure had become known. As was forecast, there will be a heavy deficit in the commercial accounts of the Postal Department for this financial year. The estimated loss is of the order of £5,000,000, and if the present tariffs are continued the deficit for 1951-52 will be much greater. In fact, allowing for further likely increases of the costs of labour, materials, freight and mail conveyance, it could very well. exceed £12,000,000.

These figures are impressive and reflect the serious position which faces the Postal Department in its endeavours to achieve financial stability. They are not astonishing, however, when account is taken of the tremendous additional costs which the department has had to meet because of factors completely outside its control.

Let us consider wages, for example. The basic wage judgment which operated from December last, and cost-of-living adjustments made since November, have increased the department’s annual wages bill by about £8,000,000, whilst consequential rises of the prices of materials, freights and incidental items have added at least £2,500,000 to its yearly working expenses. It is probable that expenditure for 1951-52 will be increased by” something like £4,000,000 as a result of fur ther rises of wages and costs of materials which may occur during the next twelve months. Even an increase of the weekly wage by ls. costs the department approximately £200,000 a year in direct wages, apart from the effect on materials.

In examining Postal Department finances, it is useful to look back over the last ten years and to compare the low level of costs then and now. During this period, the costs of every item of equipment used by the Postal Department have increased very greatly. Here are some typical examples : Automatic exchange equipment has increased in price by 114 per cent. ; underground cable has gone up by 200 per cent. ; and trunk aerial wire has increased by 200 per cent. The cost of telephone instruments has increased by 1.74 per cent. ; that of postmen’s uniforms by 114 per cent.; that of letter receivers by 238 per cent. ; and that of paper for the telephone directories by 300 per cent. The newspaper industry will appreciate that item. Concurrently, wage rates have more than doubled. For instance, a postal officer whose maximum salary was £266 in 1941 now receives £572. A telephonist’s salary has risen from a maximum of £205 to £463, a telegraphist’s from £328 to £698, and a lineman’s from £290 to £602. The increase of annual wage rates does not reflect fully the department’s added labour costs, which have been greatly inflated by the 40-hour week. As I informed the House last year, the 40-hour week not only led to an immediate direct increase of £1,000,000 in the Postal Department’s yearly wages bill, but it also made a heavy rise of overtime inevitable if the service to the public was to be maintained. In 1946-47, expenditure on overtime was £317,000, but this year it will exceed £2,000,000. The 40- hour week has also caused a marked rise of the costs of materials, freights and other items, and has contributed very substantially to the basic wage increase and to cost-of-living adjustments, which represent such major factors in Postal Department expenditure.

Another important reason for increased Postal Department costs is the purchase, from abroad of large quantities of materials which were normally obtained at lower rates from Australian sources. Such purchases have been made partly to give effect to the Government’s direction that Commonwealth departments shall secure stocks of scarce materials from overseas rather than compete on the local market, and because in some instances it has not been possible to procure needed supplies from local manufacturers. It will be- clear, from these facts,- that costs of labour and materials have increased by substantially more than 100 per cent. . during the last ten years. I recognize that the position that faces the department is not unique, and is in no way different from that which has confronted every business undertaking, both private find public, in all countries since the end of the war. I need not emphasize that it is .clearly impossible for an undertaking to pay its way with a rise of charges, representing 35 per cent, over a period of ten years, which is so much below the increase of the costs of giving service. Although the new tariffs proposed represent a substantial increase of the present rates in some cases, I point out to honorable members that the overall effect of the 1949, 1950 and present adjustments will be to increase the department’s tariffs by a little less than 75 per cent. I think honorable members will agree, Mr. Speaker, that in the light of all the evidence of unavoidable extra costs, the proposal to raise the charges again is by no means astonishing. The fact that the department expects to pay its way in 1951-52 with a general level of tariffs less than 75 per cent, above those operating ten years ago, shows that the efforts of the administration to operate the postal and telecommunication services as economically as possible in the face of heavy and inescapable increases of labour and material costs have not been unsuccessful.

Naturally; before deciding upon any rate increases I gave very close attention to the matter of whether some of the higher costs could be met by economics within the department. I have examined the matter of the staff employed in relation to the volume of business, because stuff represents a large item in the overall expenditure. I have found that throughout every section of the department continuous attention is given to the relation of staff to work volume and that in all activities, wherever it is practicable toapply scientific principles for the evaluation of work loads and the determination of staff required, this is being done. It is possible to estimate on an hourly basis the number of telegrams that a telegraphist cim despatch, the number of pounds of mail that a postman can deliver or a sorter can handle and the number of calls that a telephonist can put through. That aspect has been investigated exhaustively and exact computations have been made.

It will be of interest to honorable members to know that in a very large section of the service the work load actually discharged by telephonists, telegraphists and other large groups of employees of the Postal Department has remained unchanged for many years and that the present output still compares favorably with that of years ago. In fairness to the department’s, employees, who number thousands, I again emphasize that fact. From time to time loose statements are made alleging lack of interest on the part of employees in their work, but, as the result of investigations that I have made, I am satisfied that the vast majority of , the employees of the department are rendering excellent service. I recognize, however, that in a large organization such as the Postal Department, improvements are always possible, and I assure honorable members that special measures have been taken and are being continued with the object of improving efficiency and of eliminating any factors that may be likely to give rise to unnecessary costs. Although these measures are being pursued with vigour by well-equipped officers, there is no prospect of any economies or improvements that arise being sufficient to reduce appreciably the wide margin between earnings and expenditure.

Another alternative which might be suggested as a means of bridging the gap between expenditure and revenue would be to curtail drastically postal, telephone and telegraph services. Such a step must be considered in the light of the tremendous increase that has taken place in the demands for service of every type which it is the department’s obligation to provide. On the average, usage of each of these services has increased by approximately 30 per cent, during the last ten years. I think that honorable members who are constantly being approached for the provision of new and improved facilities in their electorates will agree that any curtailment of services to the public would give rise to grave difficulties and would not be in the best interests of the community, having regard to the vital importance of the communication services in the daily life of every individual. Such a curtailment would necessitate the dismissal of thousands of specially trained men whose job it is to cater for the postal, telephone, telegraph and broadcasting needs, and would undoubtedly also lead to serious loss of revenue. I should not entertain that proposition for one moment. I am satisfied that the solution does not lie in the direction of a serious curtailment of essential services or in reducing the activities of this great public utility to a level at which it would be entirely inadequate to meet the reasonable demands of users in cities and throughout country areas.

In view of what I have said, the conclusion that the Government has reached, namely, that the charges for postal, telephone and telegraph services should be adjusted to meet the increased costs of the services, is the only one possible in the circumstances. The proposals for higher tariffs have been developed with regard to costs of providing, operating and maintaining services, the importance of continuing to furnish relatively cheap facilities to rural areas to stimulate the spread of population, and the necessity to maintain and develop effective communication services to meet the- needs of our growing population and expanding industries. The bill now before the House provides for the following revision of rates, which, with the consent of honorable members. I shall incorporate in Hansard: -

Letters: The existing rate of 3d. for the first ounce will be increased to 3id. The charge for each additional ounce will remain at 2d.

Lettercards : The existing charge of 3d. will be increased to 3id.

Postcards: The existing charge of 2 id. will be increased to 3d.

Commercial papers, patterns, samples and merchandise: The existing rate of 2d. for the first 2 oz. will be increased to 3d. and the charge of lid. for each additional 2 oz. will lie increased to 2d.

Printed matter (including printed papers, circulars, catalogues, and books and publications not registered for transmission as newspapers or periodicals) : The existing rate of 2d. for the first 4 oz. will be increased to 3d. and the present charge of lid. for each additional 4 oz. will be increased to 2d.

Registered newspapers, periodicals and books not posted in bulk: The existing rate of lid. for the first 6 oz. will be increased to 2id. and the present charge of lid. for each additional 6 oz. will be increased to 2d.

Registered newspapers, periodicals and other publications posted in bulk: The existing rate of 2id. for Ki oz. will be increased to 2*3. for 8 oz.

Hansard: The existing rate of lid. for 12 oz. will be increased to 2d.

Telegrams: The base rate for ordinary telegrams will be increased from ls. 9d. to 2s. 3d. where the offices are not more than fifteen miles apart and from 2s. to 2s. 6d. in other cases. The new base rate will apply to telegrams of twelve words instead of fourteen words as at present. The charge for each additional word will be raised from lid. to 2d.

Press telegrams: Interstate press telegrams will be charged one-half the rate applicable to ordinary telegrams. Intra-state press telegrams and those relating to proceedings of the Commonwealth Parliament will be charged one-quarter of the rate for ordinary telegrams.

Lettergrams: The base rate of ls. Od. for 30 words will be increased to 2s. for 24- words. The charge for each additional word will be raised from id. to Id.

The new rate for letters represents a rise of 40 per cent, on the rate which applied ten years ago. In the light of costs, which have more than doubled during the same period, the increased charge is reasonable. The higher rates for commercial papers, printed papers and registered publications not posted in bulk are made necessary by the greatly increased costs of dealing with these articles. Postal administrations throughout the world are faced with financial problems in regard to the handling and conveyance of non-letter type mail. We have been reliably informed that the United States Post Office, for instance, is losing about 400,000,000 dollars yearly on these classes of mail matter. We are losing substantially on the carriage of such matter. A fairly marked increase is proposed of the existing bulk rate for publications registered for transmission as newspapers and. periodicals. The present charge represents a very substantial concession, particularly to the smaller journals, and is utilized extensively by metropolitan and country newspapers, publishers of periodicals, and a large number of non-commercial bodies, including churches, ex-servicemen’s associations and organizations of employers and employees. When I investigated this aspect, I was interested to find that no less than 12,000,000 religious periodicals and approximately 11,000,000 trade union publications are handled annually on’ a bulk rate basis and that this service is used extensively by many commercial organizations. About 160,000,000 articles are posted annually in bulk and the number is growing rapidly. Of those articles only approximately 25,000,000 are daily newspapers.

The extent of the existing concession will be apparent when it is realized that on the average the revenue from 1 lb. weight of letters is 7s. at the current rates, whereas the same weight of registered publications posted in bulk returns only 2½d., or 3 per cent, of the amount derived from letters. The cost of handling a newspaper or periodical is greater than that of handling a letter, and it will be obvious that the continuance of the present unusually low charge is not justified. The new rate of 2£d. for S oz. will still involve the department in heavy financial loss in respect of bulk postings, but the Government desires to maintain a concession in order to stimulate and encourage the wide dissemination of news and to prevent th.r imposition of hardship on the large and widespread number of people who avail themselves so freely of the special tariff.

With regard to telegrams, the present rates are quite inadequate to cover the handling costs, and the higher tariffs proposed in the bill will still be insufficient to meet these expenses. In dealing with the matter, however, the Government has paid regard to the value of the telegraph service to users and its wide use by the general public.

Although the Post and Telegraph Rates Act covers only the main postal and telegraph charges, the very heavy increases of costs have affected all services provided by the Postal Department and it is proposed to adjust other rates suitably by amending the relevant regulations or taking other prescribed executive action. I- have already circulated to honorable members statements showing the main directions in which it is proposed to amend the charges generally.

The overall effect of the proposed increases of postal, telegraph and telephone rates, will be to raise the department’s earnings by less than 30 per cent., thus making the accumulative increase during the last ten years less than 75 per cent. The revenue to be derived from the new charges should be sufficient to enable the department to pay its way during 1951-52. We hope to complete the next financial year “ about square “, provided our costs, such as wages and so forth, do not rise disproportionately.

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– Does the expenditure to which the Postmaster-General refers include increased capital expenditure?

Mr ANTHONY:

– No, that item is not included in this revenue statement.

As a matter of interest, I point out that the United States Congress is now considering proposals for a substantial upward revision of postal rates so that the annual loss of the Post Office of more than 500,000,000 dollars may be offset in part by the increased charges. We deal internationally with other countries in respect of air mail, and we are receiving demands from them that we increase our air mail rates for the same reasons that we are compelled to increase the rates that are now under consideration.

The plans before the United States Congress include a rise of 100 per cent, in the rates for newspapers and magazines and bulk circulars. Other countries, including the United Kingdom, have recently adjusted their charges. As honorable members are aware, the department has been engaged for some years past on a comprehensive works programme for the purpose of overtaking the arrears of the war and early post-war years and of meeting the great demand for new services. Although record progress has been made, there is still much to be done to provide waiting applicants with telephone services and to remove congestion on junction routes between exchanges and on the trunk lines. It will be necessary to continue these efforts in order to maintain the services at a reasonable standard of adequacy and efficiency.

Summing up, I emphasize that the 40-hour week has directly and indirectly added millions of pounds to Postal Department’s wages, penalty rates and overtime as well as being a major component in the higher cost of all materials used by the department, and the reduced hours have also necessitated the recruitment of several thousands of additional staff for sections in which the 44-hour week had previously been worked. But for the increase of the basic wage by £1 a week and associated cost-of-living and marginal adjustments, the department would have shown a profit in the commercial profit and loss account for the present financial year, despite an overall rise of only 35 per cent, in charges during the period of ten years to which I have referred. Had it not been for the higher costs since November, including the increase of the basic wage by £1 a week and associated charges, this financial year would have been completed with a profit instead of an estimated loss of approximately £5,000,000.

Mr E JAMES HARRISON:
BLAXLAND, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– So the introduction of the 40-hour week does not relate to the loss of £5,000,000?

Mr ANTHONY:

– With the increased tariffs that were imposed in November, this financial year would have been completed with a profit, but costs continued to rise. The 40-hour week did not affect this last section.

Mr Haylen:

– The Postal Department overtook it ?

Mr ANTHONY:

– Yes. Every avenue in which economies may be effected will continue to be fully explored. The work of the indoor and outdoor staff is subject to constant and critical review. Procedures have been streamlined, and operations have been mechanized, wherever possible. Any marked curtailment of facilities, for which the public demand is increasing, would not only impose great inconvenience, if not actual hardship, on many sections of the community, but also hamper national development and result in serious loss of revenue. The department is an efficient organization, which has taken and will continue to take all possible action to provide residents in all parts of Australia with reasonably adequate and efficient services. I. hope that I have convinced honorable members on both sides of the House that there is justification for the proposed adjustment of tariffs, and that the reasons for the increases are clear. I have no hesitation in asking honorable members to support the bill.

Debate (on motion by Mr. Daly) adjourned.

page 509

SUPPLY BILL (No. 1) 1951-52

Secondreading.

Debate resumed from the 26th June (vide page 436), on motion by Sir Arthur Fadden -

That the bill be now read a second time.

Mr DALY:
Grayndler

.- Probably not since the immediate post-war years has a government been faced with the problems that now confront the Menzies Government. It has to grapple with the problems of rising prices and inflation, production and the shortages of essential goods, industrial dislocation and unrest, which in many instances is caused by Communists and others, the international situation, and, finally, the defence of Australia in the present troubled state of the world. If it were not for the fact that most of those problems have been aggravated by the inefficiency of this Government, I should have some sympathy for it. But its record of achievement is barren. It has failed completely, through incompetence, to implement any part of the policy that it placed before the electors in 1949. Therefore, it cannot expect sympathy from the Opposition in its futile efforts to increase the production of essential goods, and to handle other matters of national policy.

Until the recent election, the Government sought to excuse its incompetence by claiming that its efforts to give effect to its policy were frustrated by a Labour dominated Senate. Such an excuse can no longer be offered. The Government has a clear mandate to give effect to its policy, and the Opposition in the Senate and this House cannot prevent it from doing so. The people and the Opposition rightly expect the Government to give effect to measures, in accordance with its pre-election policy, to bring economic stability to the country, to protect us against the evils of communism, and, generally, to improve the conditions of our citizens. But having in mind the Government’s sorry record, I am not hopeful that the people “will gain any benefits while it remains in office.

Rising prices and inflation form the major problem. I shall give the House an indication of how the upward trend of prices is affecting the people. A report that has been issued by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics discloses that, in 1948-49, while the Commonwealth exercised prices control, the cost of living increased by approximately 9$ per cent, compared with the previous year. When the Commonwealth relinquished prices control, the cost of living increased by 19.8 per cent, in 1949-50 compared with the figure for 1947-48. I believe that those figures are conservative. On a statistical basis, the cost of living may have increased by approximately 20 per cent, in that period of two years, but every citizen knows that the cost of the necessaries of life and other commodities, when they can be obtained, has increased by more than 20 per cent. The Government endeavours to place all the blame for the higher prices on lack of production, resulting from the activities of the Communist party.

Since this Government assumed office, production has not increased. Yet the promise to stimulate production was a major feature of the election manifestos of the Liberal party and the Australian Country party in 1949, in their effort to guin the votes of the majority of the people. The Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) stated in his policy-speech on that occasion -

As every housewife knows, as every farmer knows - in fact, as every Australian knows, the Golden Age (i.e., Chifley Government) has been a n age of recurring shortages of coal, of power, of milk, and cream, of potatoes, and matches and butter; an age in which chronic shortages of all the basic materials and equipment necessary to maintain and expand production have crippled our efforts and plagued our daily lives.

In a later part of the same speech, he said - ‘

We (i.e., Liberal and Country parties) have a concrete policy of stabilization for the primary industries which will make them profitable again, reduce their production costs and cheapen their products to the consumer, and provide more of them.

  1. shall now read a list of goods which I selected at random to-day from Sydney newspapers, and which are in short supply in the metropolitan area of that city. There is a shortage of milk, and butter is not obtainable unless the citizen buys it on the black-market for 6s. or 7s. per lb., or gets it from under the counter from his local grocer. Tea is becoming difficult to buy, sugar is hardly procurable, eggs are in short supply, matches are almost unobtainable, and common salt, potatoes and pepper are not available. In addition to those commodities, galvanized iron, steel and building materials are fading from the market in New South Wales in this “ Golden Age “ under a Liberal partyAustralian Country party Government. Honorable members opposite explain that the Communists are responsible for those shortages, because they have dislocated production.
Mr E JAMES HARRISON:
BLAXLAND, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP

– Have the Communists influenced the cows not to produce milk?

Mr DALY:

– Government supporters will probably tell us that red cows are responsible for the shortage of butter, arid that the shortage of eggs is attributable to the activities of Rhode Island Reds in the fowl yard. That would be little more fantastic than some of the charges they have made already. Whilst I agree that the activities of Communist agitators in many industries have helped to slow down production, I am not prepared to let the Government use the Communist bogy to cloak its own incompetence. The truth is that the shortages of butter and other primary products have been caused by seasonal difficulties and the Government’s complete inability to stabilize rural industries and to offer to the producers sufficient incentive to stimulate output. I reject the excuse that the controls which were imposed by the Labour administration in the interests of the people caused blackmarketing and thus failed to keep down prices.

Shortages of important commodities to-day are due to the fact that manufacturers and producers have gone on strike in many instances in protest against the returns that they are receiving. They should be condemned for withholding -supplies of their products just as strongly as supporters of the Government condemn the workers who hold up industry because they consider that their labour is worth more than their employers are prepared to pay for it. The Government is prepared to take repressive and coercive measures against the workers, but it will not do anything about those individuals who are denying essential commodities to the community because they consider that their profits are not large enough with the result that pensioners and other citizens on small fixed incomes must pay blackmarket prices from their meagre resources or go without the goods that they need.

The Government is bursting with excuses for its refusal to do anything about rising prices. It claims that inflation has galloped away from it, that production has decreased and that the Communist party is responsible for all our troubles. But the Labour party says that the Government destroyed the only possible effective prices stabilization scheme when it defeated the proposals that were submitted to the people at a referendum and in consequence the power to control prices had to be handed back to the States. The Government is busy arranging for a referendum on communism, but it is shirking the real issue by refusing to allow the people to express their will in relation to prices control. An effective Commonwealth system of price fixing on the lines of that which was initiated by the Labour administration, reinforced by a number of strong economic measures, would provide the only means of restoring stability and preserving the already sadly diminished purchasing power of the Australian £1. In fact, the members and supporters of this Government, who attacked the Chifley Government for maintaining controls that were essential to the public interest, now propose to introduce a bill which will incorporate almost all the measures for which they condemned that Government.

The stable door has been opened by the Menzies-Fadden Government and inflation is galloping away. Our flimsy £1 is fast losing much of its remaining value. Now the Government, the members of which abandoned the controls that were designed to maintain the value of the £1, is doing a trapeze act and preparing to turn a series of political somersaults. It has realized at last that the controls which the Chifley Government exercised were essential to the maintenance of economic stability. Had the anti-Labour parties not been so eager to abolish controls in order to win votes, in preference to preserving the value of incomes, the nation would be. in a sound economic position to-day. My criticism of this Government’s incompetence is not merely destructive. I realize the complexity of the problems that confront it. But the baby is there to be nursed by the Government that conceived it. Had the Chifley Government received some co-operation from its opponents in implementing a nation-wide system of prices control, great benefits would have been enjoyed by the people of Australia.

The Opposition now suggests, as a means of applying a belated remedy, that the Government should accept the advice of various State Premiers and conduct a referendum on the prices issue instead of on other matters. That course of action would provide it with a chance to preserve the meagre, faded value of the Australian £1. The rate at which prices are rising to-day is a real threat to the people of Australia and to the general economic structure of the nation. Somethingmust be done to halt the trend, so that people may be able to buy something like a pound’s worth of goods for every twenty shillings that they spend. The prices of necessities have spiralled so rapidly that now it is almost impossible for the average wage-earner to obtain his requirements. “

When answering a question in his usual vague fashion to-day, the Treasurer indicated that the budget might include provision for substantial increases of sales tax on items which the Government regards as luxury goods. I refer particularly to such articles as radio sets, which to-day are a necessity for the poor man. The present rate of sales tax on radio sets is 25 per cent., but we have been told that, in order to force men and women out of the radio industry, the rate will be increased to 662/3 per cent. Electric irons, toasters and other household necessities will be similarly taxed. That is how this Government proposes to reduce the prices of essential commodities ! It is the strangest economic process of which I have ever heard. The Sydney Morning Herald of the 26th June published an article which included the following dire forecast : -

We can expect some pretty stiff increases in sales tax on “ Luxury “ goods when the next Federal Budget is introduced.

There should be no difficulty in distinguishing luxury goods from essential goods.

The essentials are those you can’t get.

I have already mentioned many of the essential items. Generally speaking, it is true to say that goods which are needed in the poorest and the wealthiest homes alike in order to enable families to keep body and soul together are the most difficult to obtain.

The Opposition does not claim that the problem of rising prices could be solved with ease overnight. But it asserts that the time has come for the Government to honour at least some of the promises that it made to the people on this subject in 1949 and again more recently. What has happened to its policy for the taxing of excess profits? The Government parties also contended when the Chifley Government was in office that the size of the Public Service was responsible in some measure for the lack of production. What has happened to that argument? Is it not a fact that, under the present Administration, the number of public servants, all of whom are necessary for all I know, has reached a record level? The Government proposes now to increase taxes. Were we not constantly told by its members and their supporters when they were in Opposition that production was inadequate because the Chifley Government had destroyed incentive by taxing individuals, companies and other organizations too heavily? At any rate, the present Government parties assured the electors that. they had a solution of the problem of inflation. All that the Opposition asks is that the Government shall now give an effective answer to its criticism by implementing even some sections of that bold policy, of which it boasted, to increase production and to keep prices down to the absolute minimum. Undoubtedly, the best way to attack the problem of rising prices would be to accept the Opposition’s advice and con- duct a referendum on the subject of prices control. Then, with the approval of the people, the Government would be able to go ahead and stabilize the purchasing power of the people.

When is the Government going to tackle the problem of communism? When will it take effective action under the law, which is there to be implemented, and prosecute some of the individuals whom it describes as traitors for their subversive activities in industry? The Communists could readily be brought to justice under the existing laws. A Labour Government used the law against them, and this Government should do likewise. It proposes instead to conduct a referendum before it attempts to counter the activities of the Communists. I agree that the proposal is so important that the Government ought to consult the wishes of the people as a whole rather than obtain the * views of the State Governments.

Mr Bland:

– Does the honorable member support the Government’s proposal for a referendum?

Mr DALY:

– What will the honorable member for Warringah (Mr. Bland) do about this problem? He has opposed every referendum proposal of any kind that has been submitted to the people for as long as I can remember. He has resisted every campaign to obtain wider powers for the Commonwealth even when he must have known that ultimately such extensions of power would be in the best interests of the people. Where does he stand on this issue? I venture to prophesy that the Liberal party will bring him into line, as it always does when it cracks the whip over its members. The Government’s proposals in relation to communism should be referred to the Australian people because the subject is one of the most important upon which they could be called upon to adjudicate. While the referendum is being conducted, the Government should act upon the advice of the Labour Premier of New South Wales, and, at the same time, obtain the opinion of the people on the subject of prices control.

The Government need not wait until after the referendum has been conducted before it acts against the Communist party. As the Premier of New South

Wales has said, it already has power under the Constitution to take effective action against saboteurs and traitors. Such individuals can be tried and convicted in our courts of law. The United States of America is dealing with them in that way, and the enemies of the American people are being found guilty in accordance with normal democratic judicial practice. The Government knows that no member of the Labour party can be a member of the Communist party and that the Labour movement is the only organization which has consistently fought the Communists in the trade unions and elsewhere. The supporters of the Government know in their hearts that, in Australia to-day-

Government supporters interjecting,

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! Such interruptions must cease. If honorable members are not prepared to listen in silence to the honorable member for Grayndler, [ fear that their numbers will be reduced very soon.

Mr DALY:

– Honorable members on the Government side of the House have always been sham fighters on the Communist issue. Instead of facing the facts squarely and prosecuting the Communists in the established courts, as is being done in the United States of America, they are taking refuge behind plans for a referendum. They hope that, if they defer action long enough, the people will forget their incompetence on this vital issue.

Government supporters declare that secret ballots in the trade unions would deal with the problem satisfactorily. I have never heard them mention the fact that in Queensland, by the democratic process of a secret ballot, a’ member of the Communist party named Patterson was elected to the State Parliament! In any case, if secret ballots offer a means of preventing Communist sabotage in industry, why is the Government worrying about prosecutions, bans or other expedients? It should introduce the secret ballot system immediately and say, “ This will wipe out the Communists “. It knows that secret balloting will not alone solve the problem. It should face the Communist issue squarely, as the Labour Government did, and resort to established law. The Government is merely putting off the necessity for taking action. I am not unmindful of the fact that the activities of the Communist party have been a contributory .factor in retarding production in many essential industries. Nevertheless, I will not accept the Government’s assertion that almost every tinpot disturbance in industry .is caused by the Communist party, the Labour party or any other organization. There are some persons on both sides of industry who refuse to co-operate with others in the task of securing harmony in essential industries and, through it, increased production of the goods and materials that we need. Instead of blaming the Communists for everything, honorable gentlemen opposite should ensure that effective action will be taken to improve the amenities and conditions of workers in essential industries, because by doing so more men can be induced to work in industries that are now short of manpower. In many instances, lack of production is due to lack of man-power.

Undoubtedly the greatest menace that confronts Australia is inflation or the diminishing purchasing power of our currency. This Government will not be able to implement the mandate that was given to it by the Australian people if it does not immediately take effective steps to either restore the purchasing power of the Australian pound to its former level, or stabilize it at its present level in order to protect the interests of the people, especially those of persons in the lower and middle income groups. Unless inflation is checked, this nation cannot be expected to prosper.

Mr HAMILTON:
Canning

.- I believe that the Parliament should place upon record an expression of its pride in the performance of the servicemen who took part in the Jubilee celebrations that were held recently. in Canberra. They did an excellent job, under very adverse conditions. Their performance is worthy of commendation, as is that of the Duntroon cadets, who gave an exhibition that could not be surpassed anywhere in the world.

Although honorable gentlemen opposite have advocated the control of prices, not one of them has suggested that that control should be accompanied by a system, of wage-pegging. Let them say openly whether or not they advocate that also. The honorable member for Grayndler (Mr. Daly), in dealing with the shortage of butter and eggs, insinuated that farmers were retaining those commodities upon their properties in anticipation of price increases. He knows that there is no basis for an allegation of that kind. Members of the Opposition who talk continually about doing this or that for the workers, speak with their tongues in their cheeks, because the Labour Government that was in power in 1947 agreed that the prices of dairy products should be determined upon the basis of a 56-hour week. Nevertheless, they say that improved amenities should be given to workers who enjoy a 40-hour week. That basis of determination alone drove from our dairy farms and poultry farms many men who would otherwise now be engaged in producing commodities of which there is a- shortage, but honorable gentlemen opposite are squealing about that shortage now.

Members of the Opposition ask for prices control. They say that, had it not been for the actions of the present Government parties when the referendum on rents and prices control was held, there would be stability of prices in this country now. I remind them that the object of the present Government parties in opposing the referendum was to prevent the writing into the Constitution of a provision giving to the Commonwealth permanent control of prices. There was no need for the Prime Minister of that clay to throw on to the shoulders of the States, as he did, complete responsibility for prices control in this country immediately the people had voiced their Opinion of the Government’s proposal. Although honorable members opposite’ complain bitterly, and in some instances hypocritically, of the action of the present Government parties in opposing that referendum, they know very well that we told the Chifley Government that we were prepared to support any defence transitional legislation that was designed to give to the Commonwealth temporary power to control the prices of commodities that were in short supply. We agreed that it would be an act of madness to exempt such commodities from prices control until supply approximated demand.

Honorable gentlemen opposite should get together on this matter. Mr. Larcombe, a Minister in the Queensland Government, has, according to the Queensland press of the 22nd June, 1951, complained that, ‘under State prices control, other States can fix higher prices in order to attract supplies; but he also said that in that respect the position was worse when the Commonwealth controlled prices. In which way do honorable members opposite want it? A member of the Labour party who is a Minister in the Queensland Government has said that under the system of control of prices by the States the position is better than it was when the Commonwealth was responsible for prices control, but honorable gentlemen opposite, who voice in this Parliament not their own views but those of the executive of their party, say that the Commonwealth should control prices. Mr. Larcombe is also reported to have said -

It was then the common practice of the Canberra price-fixing authorities, whenever commodities were scarce, to arrange the scale of prices to ensure that adequate supplies went from Queensland to Sydney and Melbourne, leaving the Queensland people to suffer the shortages.

According to a report in the West Australian of the 8th January, 1951, the honorable member for Fremantle (Mr. Beazley), speaking at a summer school in Perth, said that revaluation, the abolition of sales tax, the revision of tariffs, increased direct taxation and subsidized essentials, followed by wage-pegging and prices control, were a combination of effective means for increasing the value of the pound. The honorable member for Grayndler complained that, according to a report that he had heard, this Government intends to increase direct taxation, but the honorable member for Fremantle has advocated such a course. The Opposition should speak with one voice upon prices control and wagepegging, but at the moment it is at sixes and sevens. The honorable member for Fremantle is reported to have said also that the people of Australia had indicated their opposition to prices control which, to be effective, had to be accompanied by wage-pegging. The honorable member for Melbourne (Mr. Calwell) and other members of the

Labour party say that they do not want wage-pegging. If honorable gentlemen opposite do want prices control - and I doubt very much whether they do - they should recognize that it must be accompanied by wage-pegging, because wages and prices are interlocked.

There has been some criticism of the cost of houses. It is well known that approximately 80 per cent, of the price of a house is attributable to labour costs. What are the members of the Opposition doing to assist the people whom they claim to represent? They are advocating that bricklayers, for instance, should lay only 300 bricks a day. If a bricklayer lays more than that number, he is criticized by his trade union. By refusing to allow bricklayers to lay more than 300 bricks a day, the trade unions are hurting, not men with plenty of money, who can afford to pay high prices for the things that they need, but men with small or moderate incomes who want homes. If honorable gentlemen opposite maintain their present attitude, the cost of houses will continue to increase.

It has been suggested that the Government is doing nothing in regard to communism. Yesterday the honorable member for Yarra (Mr. Keon), during a speech in opposition to communism, criticized the Government severely for having curtailed broadcasts by Radio Australia and for certain other actions and, in scathing terms, accused it of having refused to send wheat to starving India. First, the chairman of the Australian Wheat Board, Sir John Teasdale, announced that no wheat was available in this country for despatch to India. Why should he say that wheat was not available for that purpose before he had. made a survey of the position ? When the survey was completed, it was found that some wheat was available for India. I am reliably informed that, before the completion of the survey, this Government offered to the Indian Government as a gift 2,000 tons of maize, from 7,000 to 9,000 tons of sorghum and 9,000 tons of barley, but the Indian representatives refused to accept the offer. Although millions of Indians were starving, they said that they did not want the coarse grains that we offered them.

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– That is not true.

Mr HAMILTON:

– It is true. On the 4th May, the ship River Burnett was loading 8,000 tons of wheat in Fremantle for India. ‘ It was necessary for the Australian Wheat Board to make the survey to which I have referred because certain quantities of wheat must be kept available in this country under the terms of the International Wheat Agreement. That agreement was accepted by the- Labour party when it was in power, although the nations to which we were required .to send wheat under certain conditions that relate to price are not required to sell their commodities to us under similar conditions. When the survey had been completed, it was ascertained that wheat was available for despatch to India, and another 9,000 tons was sent. Between 250,000 and 300,000 bushels are ready to be shipped in August. The honorable member for Yarra said yesterday that wheat should have been shipped to India immediately, but that could not be done. Ships must be chartered and sales arranged weeks and probably months before the date of despatch. A great deal of organization is necessary. It was impossible to make arrangements for wheat to be sent to India immediately, but as soon as it was possible to send some, it was sent. The members of the Opposition could assist the starving Indians by suggesting that the waterside workers get a “ wriggle “ on in loading foodstuffs for other countries.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! In order that the mover and seconder, together with other honorable members who so desire, may accompany me to present the Address-in-Reply to His Excellency the Governor-General at 5.15 p.m., the sitting will now be suspended until 8 p.m.

Sitting suspended from 5 to 8 p.m.

Mr HAMILTON:

– Before the suspension of the sitting I was giving the House some information in rebuttal o’-‘ the statement of the . honorable member for Yarra that the Government had donenothing to assist the starving Indian people by sending them wheat. I said that my last information on the subject was that between 250,000 and 300,000 bushels of wheat were to be sent to India in August. Evidence of the fact that the Government had agreed to give India assistance as speedily as possible, but that the main problem with which it was faced was one of shipping, appeared in the press of the- 31st May last. It was also stated that with a view to overcoming the shipping difficulty the Government had asked th, British Ministry of Food, which is an executive arm of a government of ti Opposition’s own political colour, for permission to send urgently to India .shipments of wheat which, under the terms of the International Wheat Agreement, would not normally be sent until later this year. Only yesterday the Minister for External Affairs (Mr. Casey) informed the country that the first cargo of gift wheat for India under the Colombo plan is expected to leave in September. I say to the Opposition, and particularly the honorable member for Yarra, that the Government has done everything possible to provide wheat and foodstuffs to the people of India. The honorable gentleman developed the argument that we should take such steps in order to defeat communism in the Eastern countries, and I agree entirely with him. We know that he has for some time fought against communism inside the ranks of his own party. . That, to me, appears to be as far as he has gone. In the Melbourne Sun News-Pictorial of the 22nd August, 1950, the honorable member was reported to have said -

Bitter practical experience has taught the anti-Communist in red-controlled unions that without independent returning officers exercising government authority over union ballots they stand no chance.

He said further -

To-day the rank and file, which was the most strongly opposed to any such government supervision, is becoming increasingly impatient with opposition to such measures.

The following report appeared in the Melbourne Herald on the 15th March last - and ‘ I do not think that he will complain about the press in respect of these articles as he did yesterday in respect of some others : -

Mr. Keon told caucus that safeguards for clean and secret ballots would strengthen thi. trade union movement and restore control by bona fide working unionists.

It was also reported that in caucus hi attacked Dr. Evatt by attacking the conference decision-

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order! The honorable gentleman shall not refer to members by their names.

Mr HAMILTON:

– The honorable member for Yarra was reported to have attacked the present Leader of the Opposition during a caucus meeting. A report which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of the 16th March, 1951, read, in part -

Mr. Keon said Dr. Evatt had been a wonderful success in opposing anything proposed against the Communists, and he had given the lead in opposing legislation to dissolve the Communist party.

The public, suffering from blackouts and the disruption caused by the Communists, wanted to know what Dr. Evatt’s policy was.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order! The honorable gentleman shall not refer to members by name.

Mr HAMILTON:

– I was referring to the right honorable member for Barton. I was merely quoting from a press statement

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order! That dotnot matter.

Mr HAMILTON:

– The report continues -

Since caucus was not even allowed to discuss the legislation, but had simply to obey the orders of the Australian Labour party conference, it was obvious that the party was being “ led to ruin by a dictatorship “.

In the Sydney Daily Telegraph of the 16th March last the following headline appeared : -

Bitter Clash in Labour Caucus.

Once again it was reported that the honorable member for Yarra had attacked the right honorable member for Barton, and I agree that what he had to say was correct. But it’ ill became him to come into this House and charge the Government with doing nothing to assist the starving people of India as a means of controlling communism. I think that we should first start controlling communism at home, and clean it up. If the honorable gentleman could clean up some of the conditions on the waterfront so that we could get ships to take wheat to India, we should be able to help the starving people of that country much more quickly than otherwise. Despite his mouthings about communism, what did the honorable member do on the occasion of . the. introduction of legislation in the last Parliament to provide for secret ballots for the election of trade union leaders,, so as to allow trade unionists to . put, their own house in order? An examination of the Votes and Proceedings of Thursday, the 15th March, when thu vote.was taken on that legislation, shows that the honorable member’s, name is not on .the yoting list. The records show that he was not absent from the precincts of. the House when the vote was taken, and they also show that he was not paired. I say that honorable members should not make statements outside the Parliament and then not take the opportunity of recording their votes and so making their statements good. It is not of much credit to the honorable gentleman for him to come here, as he did.yesterday, and accuse the Government, and particularly one section of it, of doing nothing, when an examination of the records shows that he did not have the courage to vote on the issue that I have mentioned. If he wants to keep his marble clean then let him do the right thing by this Parliament and not run away from the position.

Having dealt with the honorable member’s scathing attack on the Government yesterday, I now turn to some other matters. The subject of defence has been mentioned in this debate and in the debate on the previous measure, but very little has been said or written about defence in Western Australia. When I came to this Parliament in 1946, at the first opportunity I raised the subject of Indian Ocean defence. The Hansard record shows that I said that in the very near future we should be having trouble in the Persian Gulf area because of the oil there. The Governor-General’s Speeches to this Parliament, as far as I can see, make no mention of any adequate defence preparations for the Indian Ocean and the west coast of Western Australia, which stretches for a distance of 4,350 miles. In the north of Western Australia there are more than 100,000,000 tons of better than 60 per cent, pure iron ore.

Mr Griffiths:

– The Liberals gave scrap iron to the Japs.

Mr HAMILTON:

– I welcome that interjection. I have heard stories of pig- iron having been sent to Japan, but it was the same gentleman who is blamed on that account who, as the AttorneyGeneral in the Lyons Government, had to introduce legislation to prevent a Labour Premier of Western Australia from giving to the Japanese the 100,000,000 tons of iron that I have mentioned. So it is of no use for honorable members opposite to introduce the subject of scrap iron. They were prepared to support the giving away by Western Australia of 100,000,000 tons of better than 60 per cent, pure iron ore to the Japanese. There are still no measures being taken, nor are we told of any measures likely to be taken, for the defence of the Western Australian coastline. There is nothing to protect the sea lanes between Australia and England. In a case of emergency it would be dangerous to use the Panama Canal. 1 have also previously raised the matter of establishing an air route across the Indian Ocean so that some islands can be equipped and thus be available for use as bases in the event of war. I hope that this Government during the next three years for which period at least its term of office will last although I think that it will last for twenty years, will make some move to provide an adequate defence for the western side of the continent. We appreciate the fact that a squadron of long-range reconnaissance aircraft is to be based there but. I claim that that is not enough. As far back as 1911 the people of Western Australia were told that the Henderson naval base was to be established at Cockburn Sound. Practically nothing has been done in relation to that except the expenditure of a few million pounds for which I cannot see much result. I say to the Government, let the Navy make up its mind whether it wishes to have a base on that side of the continent or not, and if it does, let it get to work and construct it somewhere there. If the Navy is not going to provide a naval base on that side of the continent; then it is up to the Government to say so, in order that- the land that is being held in reserve, which is valuable building land, -.may be utilized by tie State for the erection of houses. Personally I should like the Government to decide to construct the naval base mentioned in 1911. It must be recalled that Admiral Sir James Eraser said, when he was here during the last war, that it was a shame that a port like Albany, with all its advantages, should not be utilized to the fullest degree. He said, in mild terms, that it was a disgrace to this country that a ship had to be taken a distance equal to the distance between London and New York, that is, from the west coast of Western Australia to Sydney, to be repaired. Western Australia is the only State in the Commonwealth which has not facilities for the repair of ships. There is a shipbuilding industry in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. If the Government intends to do anything in this matter, let it make a start. Some honorable members opposite who were in office for eight years, four of which were post-war years, said nothing and, what is more, did nothing about this matter. I hope that the Government will make a decision about the naval base in Western Australia and let the Western Australian people know where they stand.

Mr BEAZLEY:
Fremantle

.- If the honorable member for Swan (Mr. Hamilton) believes what he says then h must be a very happy man in politics, because he must be untroubled by any twinge of conscience. However I wish only to make a passing reference to him, because in this chamber he completely falsified a statement that I made’ at an Adult Education Summer School in Western Australia in January of this year. He said that I had advocated wage-pegging. In the course of that speech I said that various propositions in regard to the combating of inflation had been advanced at one time or another during the last three or four years, including revaluation, wage-pegging, tariff revision, sales tax revision, prices control, increased taxation and subsidies on exports. I did not advocate any of these steps at all. What I directed attention to was what I considered to be the constitutional impossibility of the Government’s carrying out some of them and the political unlikelihood of its carrying out others, the latter applying especially to revaluation. The Liberal party has a majority of twelve Ministers to seven Australian Country party Ministers in the Cabinet. The twelve believe in revaluation, but they are prevented from putting it into effect by the Australian Country party. Consequently, that was the political explanation of the impossibility of carrying out one of those particular steps. When the honorable member quoted me as having advocated any of those matters he completely misrepresented my speech.

I refer honorable members to the answer given by the Minister for Commerce and Agriculture (Mr. McEwen) to a question he was asked in this House yesterday. The question was touched upon by the honorable member for Canning (Mr. Hamilton). The Minister for Commerce and Agriculture, I believe quite correctly, said that the unfortunate state of butter, potato and onion supplies in Australia could in part be attributed >to the fact that these products are in a segment of the Australian economy which is controlled, but which operates amongst other segments that are not controlled. The producer of the commodities that I have mentioned has a controlled income because the price of his product is controlled, but he is, as well as being the producer of certain goods the purchaser of other goods that are uncontrolled. Consequently his standard of living is f alling relatively behind that of other sections of the community whose incomes are not controlled..

The Minister for Commerce and Agriculture, and his very junior colleague from Canning, could have explained a little more why those three items are subject to control; The Minister was very indignant at the suggestion that miners should go short of butter, and deplored the continued existence of these controls, but he failed to mention the reason why subsidies on these items have been continued. Of course, the answer to why he did not do that is very plain. It is not that the Government is interested in controlling the prices of these commodities, but that these commodities are in the basic wage regimen and therefore by holding their prices down the “ C “ series index, upon which the basic wage is fixed, is falsified. In the past it has always been contended that whilst the basket of goods represented by the “ C “ series index is not a complete group of commodities which a family must buy, nevertheless the movement of those prices is representative of the general movement of prices

I throughout the community. Quite clearly, if selected items of the basic wage regimen are made the subject of subsidies whilst other things are not, then that regimen and the price movement within it cease to be an index of the general price level. That is what has happened in our community. For that reason the Western Australian executive of the Labour party has made representations to the Western Australian Government to cease its alleged price control of meat. No meat is in fact sold at the prices at which the Liberal party Government in Western Australia orders it to be sold, but this theoretical price, which does not exist in any’ butcher’s shop in the State, is taken into account in the basic, wage regimen and operates to keep wages down. The real price of mea t, which is not taken into consideration in fixing the basic wage, is far above the theoretical price fixed by the Western Australian Government.

If this Government stands for laisserfaire, and it has always contended that h does, let it stand for an open slather for the whole community, including the wage- earners, by ensuring that the basic wage index shall not be falsified. Let it do that by allowing butter, meat and other commodities to be included in the regimen at the real prices calculated by the Commonwealth .Statistician and not at some unreal theoretical prices. If that be done there will be a sharp upward movement of wages which will bring them more into line with the cost of living. The Government stands either for a controlled economy or for a free economy. The worst combination is that of sectional control and sectional freedom. Moreover, the control of one item and not of another is most unfair. I am not making out a case exclusively for the wage-earner when I advocate the lifting of certain controls. I believe that whilst the Government’s interest in subsidies is directed primarily at keeping wages down, nevertheless it. is inflicting severe hardships on the dairying industry.

The Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) has claimed a surplus of £5,000,000 in his budget. The right honorable gentleman, whose knighthood is one of the sweet mys’teries of this Parliament, frequently attacked the late Mr. J. B. Chifley, when he was Treasurer, for what he called his astronomical budgets. We all remember the passionate speech made by the Treasurer - it may have been the speech he made on the night when his collar-stud burst, but that was possibly during a speech in the banking debate - when thu right honorable gentleman advanced an alternative budget to that put forward by the late Mr. Chifley. He cited great reductions of expenditure which he said were possible. Several times he referred to the last Chifley budget of £595,000,000 as an astronomical budget. Unfortunately, the economies worked out in theory by the right honorable gentleman when he was on this side of the House do noi appear to work out now that he is on the other side. Compared with a budget of £595,000,000, the Treasurer’s budget totals £73S,000,000, which is £143,000,000 more. The Treasurer is well on the way to the doubtful honour of being the first framer of a federal budget which will be over the £800,000,000 mark. The right honorable gentleman’s claim to a surplus of £5,000,000 is an interesting feature of his budget. There was a time when surpluses had some reality. In the recent general election campaign the Government stated in its Western Australian propaganda that in order to counter inflation it would budget for surpluses. A £5,000,000 surplus in a national income of £2,000,000,000 can scarcely be regarded as a strenuous effort to budget for a surplus. However, it might have been a step in that direction had there been any reality about the surplus. In the days of more orthodox finance, while the Government was borrowing money - and at the time I am speaking of, it had borrowed almost £100,000,000 - any revenue surplus was regarded as being no surplus at all. The theory was that if a government had to borrow to balance its budget, whatever money went into the Consolidated Revenue Fund at the end of the year was not . a surplus but an amount that could be regarded as a reduction of indebtedness. That applies emphatically to this budget, which not only includes borrowings but also advance expenditure by the Government of income from the wool tax which, represents an encroachment on the revenue of the succeeding years.

In the . course of this debate certain honorable members opposite, notably the honorable member for Sturt (Mr. Wilson), have raised the matter of social services contributions. Enthusiastically supported, by interjection, by the honorable member for Forrest (Mr. Freeth), they have told the old story about the safety of a social services contributory scheme. We have been told of its superior ethical qualities and have been informed that by a small contribution of 3s. 6d. a week we shall almost get rid of the means test. T” that were the position, the Prime Minister would not have announced in 194° that he had set up a committee which by 1952 would have drawn up a report on the possibility of setting up a social services contributory scheme.

Mr Wight:

– That is more than the Labour party offered.

Mr BEAZLEY:

– I do not believe in a contributory scheme at all, so I am not involved in a defence of such schemes. I suggest that the honorable member who advocated the contributory scheme should look at the two pre-war reports of investigations initiated by nonLabour governments. One was made by Sir Frederick Stewart and the other is known as the Kinnear Report. If the honorable member reads those reports he will be able to form an objective assessment of contributory schemes. The claims made for them, are largely false. What is usually ignored by the people who advance such schemes is that to-day there exists a . body of age pensioners who* have no equity in any contributory scheme. If non-contributory age pensions are the responsibility of any government then they are the responsibility of every government since an age pension system was first established in 1909. There has been allowed to form in Australia a group of 500,000 age pensioners who have riot contributed to any scheme. Their pensions must be financed out of taxation, and if a contributory scheme is estab lished now to secure the future pensions of the younger people that contribution must be exacted from the wages of the younger people as well as the taxes to pay for the people who are now receiving age pensions. When it is said that 3s. 6d. a week will get .rid of the means test, the argument advanced that a contributory scheme establishes a safe fund is destroyed because if younger people are to contribute for their future pensions their contributions should go into a pool. If the scheme envisages the abolition of the means test for people already of an age to receive pensions, then quite clearly no fund will be built up by the contributions for the financing of future pensions. There appears to be some variation in the thoughts of Government supporters on that matter.

If the contention that a contributory scheme is safer than one financed out of taxation is to be considered, I refer honorable members to Sir Frederick Stewart’s report which was made when the government of the day was about to establish the 1938 social services contributory scheme. That scheme was torpedoed by the Australian Country party. Therefore, the Labour party will not take reproaches from the Australian Country party section of the House on social services contributory schemes. Such a scheme became law in 1938, and that it was not implemented is a responsibility which rests squarely on the non-Labour parties and particularly on the Australian Country party. Sir Frederick Stewart dealt with the particular argument that a contributory scheme is safe. The experience in Australia generally during the depression showed that incomes fell and that the taxes collected decreased in proportion as the incomes fell. Sir Frederick Stewart pointed out that a contributory scheme, such as the one that existed in Great Britain, was not safer than a scheme fianced out of taxation. When there is mass unemployment and great numbers of people cannot contribute the scheme becomes unworkable. Another point about social services contributions that is never faced by honorable members on the Government side is that they advocate a flat rate contribution by everybody, irrespective of income. If that is done, the scheme becomes merely a way of evading the scientific principle of taxation which is that it should be taken from income according to capacity to pay. Suppose that a contributory scheme had been started in 1909. What was the pension envisaged in those days? It was 10s. a week. I do not mention that figure derisively. It was about one-quarter of the then basic wage, and the present pension is in the same relation to the basic wage to-day. But if a contributory scheme had been initiated in 1909, persons who were then 21 years of age and who are still living, would have contributed for over 40 years in order to qualify to receive a pension of 10s., and the movement of the value of money in the interim would have completely destroyed the whole basis on which that contribution had been computed. The experience of the century has been one of wholesale depreciation of the purchasing power of money. Therefore, advocates of any contributory scheme must take that fact into consideration. In 1938 the State government of Western Australia initiated a civil servants contributory pensions scheme. I became a contributor to that scheme which envisaged a pension at the rate of £3 a week. At that time the old-age pension was at the rate of £1 a week and a person who contributed to the civil servants scheme naturally thought that he would enjoy a great advantage over many of his fellows. To-day, however, the age pension for an eligible couple is £5 a week, and the benefit at the rate of £3 a week that was envisaged as a pension for State public servants in Western Australia in 1938, has become completely obsolete. In fact, the Government of that State, because of war conditions and the depreciation of the purchasing power of money, now has to provide 91 per cent, of the contributions under that scheme. Thus, that scheme which was allegedly based on the thrift of a section of the community is now virtually financed by the taxpayers. At least it can be said that a scheme that is financed from taxes that are extracted from the current national income will maintain its value in relation to the current purchasing power of money; and as it has been our experience that the value of money is constantly changing, it becomes necessary for advocates of a contributory scheme to say how they propose that the benefits payable under such a scheme should be adjusted to the current purchasing power of money.

The honorable member for Canning (Mr. Hamilton) spoke about the Colombo agreement. In reply to remarks by the honorable member for Yarra (Mr. Keon), who contended that the Australian Government has not done sufficient to provide relief for victims of the famine in India, he informed us that by September next 250,000 bushels of Australian wheat will have been delivered to India. As the famine in India calls for the immediate provision of relief, the delivery of that quantity of wheat by September next to a country which is perennially short of foodstuffs to feed its people can hardly be regarded as an answer to the charge that the honorable member for Yarra made. Judging by statements which the former Minister for External Affairs, Mr. Spender, made in this chamber the Colombo Agreement is a propaganda agreement designed to win goodwill for Australia among the Asian people. It was evolved as the basis of a plan to put Asia on its feet. However, it has not been backed by deeds and, consequently, it will not help to win goodwill for us in Asia. Indeed, our participation in it “may prove to be positively disastrous because it would be better for us not to say anything about what assistance we are going to give to peoples of beleaguered areas, if we are not able, in fact, to do anything at all in that direction. I do not profess to know all about the wheat situation in Australia, and I do not criticize the Government for iis failure to supply adequate quantities of wheat to relieve sufferers in the famine areas of India. However, when the honorable member for Lalor (Mr. Pollard) was Minister for Commerce and Agriculture in the Chifley Government he banned the consumption of rice in this country in order to make available the entire Australian rice crop for the purpose of supplementing the food supplies of people in eastern countries in which rice is a staple diet. Honorable members opposite strongly criticized the Chifley Government for having taken that action. Those honorable members, when they were in

Opposition, also declared that the 89,000 tons of butter that were sent annually to the United Kingdom during the regime of the Chifley Government was a contemptible contribution, but, to-day, only 29,000 tons of butter is being sent from Australia annually to the Mother Country. Consequently, I am not astonished that honorable members opposite are now rather silent about the subject of butter exports to the United Kingdom. I do not criticize the Government on that score, but I point out that the Treasurer and his colleagues in the Australian Country party, when they were in Opposition, alleged that the deterioration of Australia’s exports of foodstuffs was due to the taxation policy of the Chifley Government. I should now be glad to learn from them the reason for the further deterioration of exports of foodstuffs to levels much less than half of those that the Chifley Government made available. Is that further deterioration due to the taxation policy of this Government?

Mr. Moore. ; It is due to industrial disturbances.

Mr BEAZLEY:

– But the Prime Minister has explained that this Government has been more successful than any other Government has been in dealing with industrial disturbances. If that claim is justified, and if there is less industrial trouble in this country to-day, some evidence should be available that butter production in this country is increasing. No such evidence has been provided. I am afraid that this Government is a government of alibis. Soon after it had assumed office it claimed that it had arrested inflationary trends and that it had solved the problem of industrial unrest.

The honorable member for Canning dealt strongly with the Communists, but only verbally. He spoke of the action that the Government intends to take to deal with the Communists. At the same time, he criticized the Chifley Government for its alleged failure to act in that direction. Now that we are in Opposition and the Government has a majority in both this House and the Senate, we are being told that we should be working in the, trade unions on behalf of the Government. Honorable members opposite claim that the Chifley Government was ejected from office because it had failed to deal effectively with the Communists. Let us approach the matter on that basis. Honorable -members opposite are responsible for government policy and we shall be pleased to learn eventually what that policy is to be. However, we find that as that policy develops, the Government is confronted at every turn with the consequences of its own lies. I refer, for instance, to its claim that it lacks adequate constitutional power to deal with the Communist party. On this matter I advise honorable members opposite to read Hansard reports of proceedings in this chamber in November, 1938. If they do so, they will find that the Prime Minister, who was then Attorney-General in the Lyons Government, made a brilliant speech in which ho advocated centralization of powers in the Commonwealth in stronger language than which any other politician has used in dealing with that subject in this chamber. On that occasion the right honorable gentleman advocated eight ways in which the powers of the Commonwealth should be expanded and they were quite as sweeping as the fourteen-point proposals that were submitted- to the people at a referendum in 1944 when the present Leader of the Opposition was AttorneyGeneral. Although the present Prime Minister, in 1938 advanced a credo of belief in stronger federal powers he has been a consistent opponent in the interim of any increase of power being given to the Commonwealth. In view of that fact it is indefensible for. him now to turn round and complain that following the High Court’s judgment in respect of the validity of the Communist Party Dissolution Act the Commonwealth does not possess sufficient power in respect of industrial matters. Honorable members opposite have consistently challenged the Opposition to declare what attitude it intends to adopt towards the Government’s proposed referendum submission to the people that the industrial power of the Commonwealth should be increased. My reply to that challenge is that when we are informed of the Government’s actual proposals it will be time enough for us to answer tire challenge. If the Government intends to seek an enlargement of the Commonwealth’s industrial power along the lines that Labour has always advocated, I have no doubt that the Opposition will sympathetically consider the Government’s proposal; but if the Government merely intends to attempt to twist the Commonwealth’s industrial power so that it can be used against the trade unions, we shall adopt a different attitude towards it.

In the course of this debate members of the Australian Country party have claimed that the Opposition does not enjoy the support of the people. The Opposition holds 52 seats and 2 nonvoting seats, or a total of 54 seats, in this House. In any event, unlike the Australian Country party, we have not found it necessary to enter into an agreement whereby another party has undertaken not to oppose our candidates at general elections. If there is any party that should not talk about having the support of the people it is the Australian Country party. In Western Australia, where candidates of that party were opposed by the Liberalparty, it was annihilated. It does not exist in South Australia, or Tasmania, whilst in Victoria it has entered into an unprecedented alliance with the Labour party. In this Parliament the Australian Country party has lost two seats that it formerly held, and it would lose 10 more if its candidates were opposed by Liberal party nominees. In those circumstances it is not dfficult to understand why the Australian Country party has entered into its crawling electoral pact with the Liberal party in order to continue to exist. The Labour party has at least been able to form a government that could stand on its own feet. That is something that the Australian Country party, at no stage of its history, has ever been able to do, and it never will be able to do so. “When the Commonwealth of Australia was formed 50 years ago there was no Australian Country party in existence, and I am confident that 50 years hence, when we celebrate the centenary of federation, its party will have ceased to exist because when the Liberal party next goes into Opposition its electoral non-opposition pact with the Australian Country party will disappear. That is not germane to the subject now under discussion except, perhaps, insofar as the Australian Country party has not yet disappeared, whilst, unfortunately, the value of the £1 has practically disappeared. It would appear that the Government still finds itself unable to have faith in its own economic policy. When it assumed office, the Prime Minister gave a series of broadcasts, which he continued until his advisers told him that he was talking too often. In those speeches he outlined reasons for the substantial increases of prices. First, he said that the increase of the price of vegetables had been due to floods. Whilst the floods, apparently, have subsided, those prices have not done so. Now, the Government is practically silent on the subject of rising prices. It says that the present inflationary trend is due to the activities of Communists. To-day, the Government has a majority in this chamber and in the Senate, and if I were a cartoonist the best cartoon that I could produce on the subject would be one which would depict the Treasurer saying to the Prime Minister, “ Soon, Bob, there will be no one to blame but you and me “.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable member’s time has expired.

Mr FREETH:
Forrest

.- This debate seems to be confined to honorable members from Western Australia.I shall not participate in a family squabble by arguing with the honorable member for Fremantle (Mr. Beazley) in reply to the interesting lecture to which he has just treated the House, because I wish to deal with other subjects, particularly on that was discussed by the honorable member for Kalgoorlie (Mr. Johnson). I refer to the problem of developing northern Australia. I commend that honorable member for the vigorous and well-informed speech that he made on that subject. This is not a parochial matter, although it relates to the development of a great part of Western Australia; it affects Australia’s interests as a whole. I shall briefly restate the problem. At present, the population of this country is approximately 8,000,000, but we have developed in a lopsided way in that 4,000,000 of our people are centred in the southeast corner of the continent within 100 miles of Sydney and Melbourne. That thought is rather terrifying from the defence standpoint, for two reasons. Let us imagine what would happen if

Australia became involved in a war in the near future with a major power that possessed atomic weapons. I do not consider that to be beyond the bounds of probability. That major power could easily calculate the war potential of Australia, based upon the country’s contribution in two previous world wars, and could estimate the cost of dropping two atomic bombs, one on Sydney and one on Melbourne. As the result of such an attack, the whole of Australia’s war potential would be immediately destroyed, and the destruction in those cities would be enormous. Australia would be wiped out as an effective participant in the war. Such an attack by a major power would not be unduly difficult. We cannot defend ourselves adequately against long range aircraft that would be expendable. It would not matter to the enemy whether or not those aircraft returned to their base. We can contemplate that we should have no adequate defences, should any power decide to cripple us permanently in the way I have suggested.

For years, people have talked about our empty north, and about the covetous eyes of Asia that are cast upon it. If we were to calculate its population potential on the same area basis, for example, as India, 250,000,000 people could occupy the north of Australia. I agree immediately that that is not a practical basis of calculation, because large areas are relatively uninhabitable, and would not sustain a population on anything like the same basis as that of India. But we must remember that, whilst those areas in the north will not sustain a population, according to our standards, comparable with the populations of the countries of Asia, they would sustain on Asiatic living standards a much larger population than they sustain at present. And those are the standards by which the countries that are looking for living room will judge those empty spaces in our north. At present, in the country north of the 26th parallel of latitude, there is a population of approximately 13,000 or one person for every 180 square miles. That population, instead of increasing, is becoming less every year. That is the effect of our lop-sided development. I believe that this Government, and all preceding governments for many years,

Ifr. Freeth. have been aware of the problem. But mere awareness of the position is not enough. How is the problem to be solved ?

The difficulty may be expressed thus: If a government , is cynically minded, it simply says, “ We have to expend the money in the areas in which we can get the most votes. If we do not expend the greater proportion of our revenue in the areas in which the majority of people are now living, and in which, consequently, the votes are, we shall not get credit for such expenditure”. That is the cynical attitude. In order to be more humane, governments must be .aware of the fact that the bulk of the revenue must be expended in places in which people are already living, so that they will derive an immediate benefit from it. Unfortunately, because governments are in office for relatively short periods, they tend to concentrate on schemes that will produce immediate but rather shortterm results. Added to that is the fact that Australia is now passing through a period of inflation, and that the Government is obliged to pull in its horns, as far as possible, in incurring expenditure upon developmental works. I know that many members of the present Cabinet, and many members of the previous Government, have been most enthusiastic about developmental projects; but if we are perfectly candid, we must admit that money expended on the north would be in the nature of a gamble. Few people live in that part of Australia, and even if large sums were expended in the north now, there would be no certainty that people would be encouraged to settle in it. Therefore, we may assume that, if it rests with a government to expend money for the purpose of developing and populating our empty north, the money is not likely to be- expended, and we must try to find another solution of the problem in order to induce people to settle in that part of Australia.

How can we do so ? We cannot simply take people by the scruff of the neck and put them into that country. We cannot, as is done in some other countries, build large concentration camps and send politically unwanted persons to them. Some form of inducement and incentive must be given to people to go to that part of the country of their own accord. They must he encouraged to go there by suitable rewards for their own efforts. I cite as one of the most enthusiastic and ardent supporters of the development of our north, the Minister for External Affairs (Mr. Casey), who, before he became a member of the Government, wrote a book entitled Double or Quit. His conception of the avenues of expenditure by the Government on public works and development was to restrict such projects to those that would, in themselves, stimulate the settlement of the empty areas.

The right honorable gentleman referred to what he called “ developmental stimulators “, and I believe that his idea could be applied with advantage to the proposal that has been made by a. section of the people in the north-west of Western Australia, in the hope that some encouragement may be given to develop the country north of the 26th parallel of latitude. I except those coastal areas in Queensland, where development has already taken place. The proposal is that all persons who live north of the 26th parallel shall be exempt from income tax for a period of at least twenty years. Certain exceptions would be made to that proposal, and certain conditions could be attached- to it, such as a requirement to re-invest in that area a substantial proportion of the income earned in it. The advantage of such a proposal would be that it would involve no immediate outlay by the Government, although the Treasury would be obliged to forgo a small amount of revenue in the hope that, ultimately, it would receive in return a larger amount of revenue. I remind honorable members that when this country was developed initially, the pioneers were not required to “ pay heavy taxes. We suggest that the north of this country should be placed in a similar position to that in which the southern half was placed in the earliest stages of its development, and be treated as a pioneering section.-

Mr Rosevear:

– Do not people who live in the north receive a tax concession now ?

Mr FREETH:

– Yes ; I shall deal with that matter in a moment. I admit that many objections have been raised to the proposal, one of which involves a constitutional difficulty. It is suggested that the grant of a substantial tax concession to individuals who live north of the 26th parallel of latitude would be, in effect, tax discrimination, and that such is outside the authority of the Parliament. However, I point out that a small tax concession is now granted by the Commonwealth to persons who live in certain zones, and although it is quite inadequate, it is still an acceptance of the principle of tax concessions for persons who reside in a Certain area. Even if the answer to the constitutional objection is not complete, there are many ways in which the objection could be overcome provided the Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) is willing to give serious consideration to the matter. I can name a few of them. The Commonwealth could grant moneys to the States affected to reimburse the persons who live in those areas. I am certain that the Government of Western Australia and the Government of Queensland would be only too delighted to enter into such an agreement with the Commonwealth. The constitutional difficulty could be surmounted in other ways if the Treasurer exhibited a real will, and enthusiasm, for the proposal;

The second objection that has been raised to the proposal is that the tax concession has been tried but has not encouraged people to settle in the Northern Territory. As honorable members are aware, the incomes of persons who are engaged in primary production, mining and the like, while they reside in the Northern Territory, are exempt from income tax for a period of five years. That period has been reviewed from time to time, but the persons concerned can count with certainty only upon five years. I hope to show that such a period is inadequate for the purpose of attracting the large amounts of capital that will be necessary if the north is to be populated. The contention that a tax concession has not encouraged people to settle in the Northern Territory is not valid in respect of my submission. An entirely different and restrictive kind of concession has been applied to persons who live in the Northern Territory* For example, it affects only those residents who are engaged in primary production or mining, mainly employers of labour. It does not affect the salary or wage-earner, who is required to develop the country by living there with his family. It also does not assist the non-resident, speculative investor. There is no doubt that if the Government cannot or will not expend huge sums of money in the north, outside capital must be attracted for that purpose. But, strangely enough, although the objection has been raised that the scheme has been tried without success in the Northern Territory, the same argument is twisted and used in another way when the inhabitants of the Northern Territory ask for more generous tax concessions. If they claim that the present concessions are inadequate to encourage the development of the Northern Territory, they are told that any additional concessions would discriminate unfairly against people in Western Australia and Queensland. That is a two-faced argument. It is not a fair or an honest argument, and I hope that it will not be used by the Treasurer in answering this proposal. Clearly, the proposed scheme, which represents an extension of the present system, would be given a fair trial if it were applied to the entire area of Australia north of the 26th parallel of latitude.

The present Government and previous governments have accepted the principle, but only the principle, that tax concessions are necessary to encourage development. They have not had the courage to give the principle a wholehearted practical test. They have applied it piece-meal in little niggling bits and that has not been good enough. That is why I am prepared to agree that the system has not worked successfully in the past. The principle was outlined in the , Payne Committee’s report on the Northern Territory as long ago as 1937, and I believe that the present Minister for External Affairs (Mr. Casey) obtained from that report the idea1 that large applications of government or private capital were needed to develop our northern areas. As investments of that nature would be purely speculative, he expressed the view in his book, Double or Quit, that the capital should be provided by private enterprise. This is what the right honorable gentleman wrote -

Australia is a capital-hungry country, as all countries in the developmental stage must be.

Our annual savings are nothing like sufficient to provide the capital necessary to develop Australia as rapidly as we must.

Later in the book he stated -

The magnet for capital is opportunity.

It may be argued that the plan that I have outlined does not go far enough and that, even with a tax-free period of twenty years, large companies still will not be attracted to invest capital speculatively in the hope of drawing large profits from that empty area. However, I refer honorable members to the development that has taken place at Wittenoon Gorge, to which the honorable member for Kalgoorlie (Mr. Johnson) referred last night. A few years ago there were only two or three people in the locality. But, as a result of the investment of over £1,000,000, there is now a flourishing township there with a population of over 500. That is the stage of any process of development at which governments should enter the picture. At Wittenoon Gorge now, due to the aid of the State Government, there are schools and other amenities which, for a town of that size, are equal to anything anywhere else in the State. The great difficulty is to persuade any government to invest money where there is no population. Governments consider that it is too risky to meddle with the funds of the community in such speculative enterprises.

I said earlier that I would discuss the present system of tax concession in the Northern Territory and prove its inadequacy. On this subject, I join issue with the honorable member for Kalgoorlie, who blames the pastoralists to a certain degree for. the present state of the country. I believe that I am quoting him correctly when I say that he said that the wool barons of the north-west were largely responsible for the poor state of the country. I do not believe that that was a true or fair statement, and I am sure that any person who was placed in the same position as that of the pastoralists in that “region would do exactly as they have done.

Mr Johnson:

– They should not be allowed to do as they have done.

Mr FREETH:

– Bad practices certainly should not be encouraged, but the fact is that the population is decreasing because people cannot make adequate livelihoods there in spite of the present high price of wool. This is due largely to heavy taxation. I have seen the balance-sheets of a number of representative pastoral companies which operate there, and they reveal a consistent loss over a period of about fifteen years. Capital has been written off in amounts pf thousands of pounds each year.

Mr Rosevear:

– What was the price of wool in those years?

Mr FREETH:

– I shall reply to the honorable member’s question in the course of my argument.

Over a five-year period, on the concessions which they receive, pastoralists cannot recover in one or two good seasons the losses that they sustain in the long and heart-breaking years of bad seasons and low prices. Seasonal conditions in the area are such that one good season in four or five is about the best that the pastoralists can expect, and even then they have to take the chance of getting good prices for their wool. An examination of their financial situation shows that an enterprise may carry on for, say, four years with a cumulative loss of about £4,000 and then, in the fifth year, make a profit of about £10,000. Cases like that are not unusual. The net profit of a pastoral company in such circumstances over five years would be £6,000 and the average, for the purpose of determining the rate of tax over a five-year period, would be £1,200. The rate of tax would be 64d. in the £1 at present tax rates. Therefore, the tax on £10,000 would be £2,600 and the net profit over a fiveyear period would be £3,400, or the equivalent of less than £700 a year. Taking into consideration the amount of capital that would be employed in order to produce an income of £10,000 in a good year, that return would not even pay the standard rate of interest. Let us consider how a pastoral enterprise that operates in a much bigger way than such a company as that would fare. The total loss sustained over four years might be about £10,000. Net profit in the fifth year might be as high as £40,000. Those amounts are large, but I believe that profits such as that are being made in the area to-day. The average profit for five years, on those figures, would be £6,000. The amount of tax, at the rate of 13s. in the £1, would be £26,000 on a single year’s profit, so that the net income over five years would be £4,000, or £800 per annum. That would nol even represent the minimum rate of interest on the capital invested in the enterprise.

The figures that I have used do not exaggerate the situation in northern Australia. A five-year period for the purpose of averaging rates of tax and a concession which permits the cost of certain improvements to be. treated as deductions for taxation purposes do not give the slightest encouragement to pastoralists to remain in production. That system has caused to arise the situation to which the honorable member for Kalgoorlie objected last night. Men are going into the territory and hanging on from year to year until they experience a good season. When their patience is rewarded they say, in effect, “ Right. We will take this money and buy a farm in the south, where at least the grass is green once a year and there is a consistent rainfall so that we shall be able to rely on experiencing more than one good season in four or five years. We shall have a comfortable farm, relatively close to Perth, and shall carry on happily there “. That is why pastoralists are taking money out of the territory. Who can blame them for doing so? It is up to this Government as it was up to past governments, which failed in their duty, to give some worthwhile encouragement to men to go into that country of their own accord.

A committee representative of pastoralists in the north-western regions was appointed some time ago to come to Canberra and interview the Treasurer on this matter. The Treasurer promised to examine their proposals. I hope that he will have the courage and imagination to look beyond the limits of mere departmental objections, which are inevitably raised whenever tax concessions are proposed. I hope that he will have the foresight to envisage “the requirements of the whole country for many years ahead and the will to do away with this lopsided developmental outlook which tends to concentrate most of our population in the south-eastern corner of the continent, leaving the north neglected and virtually empty. Unless we develop the north, any plans for establishing effective defences in that area will be utterly useless. Therefore, I appeal to the Treasurer to attack this problem with courage, energy and imagination.

Mr RIORDAN:
Kennedy

.- The honorable member for Forrest (Mr. Freeth) devoted the whole of his speech to the problems of northern Australia. Throughout the life of the last Parliament, I endeavoured to persuade the present Minister for External Affairs (Mr. Casey), who was then Minister for National Development, to take some action with the object of developing the northern area of our continent where lies the open gateway to the far north. Unfortunately, I could not induce him to do anything.

Mr Adermann:

– What did the Labour Government do ?

Mr RIORDAN:

– The honorable member for Forrest complained that former governments had been aware of the needs of our northern regions, but had done nothing to satisfy them: I remind the honorable member “for Fisher (Mr. Adermann) that the Bruce-Page Government and later the Lyons Government, both of which were of the same political complexion as the present Government, consistently neglected the north although they were in power over a period when there was great unemployment and when, therefore, developmental works should have been undertaken. They gave no, indication that they were conscious of the fact that there was such an area as the undeveloped north. Therefore, it is like a breath of fresh air to hear somebody on the Government side .of the House making reference to a very important proposal for the development of northern Australia.

The honorable member for Forrest urged the importance of granting tax concessions to residents of the northern part of Western Australia. He said that the tax concessions which had been accorded to residents of the Northern Territory had been unsuccessful. I remind him that primary producers in the Northern Territory, whether they be graziers or miners, have been granted tax concessions since 1937, although the employees, of course, have to pay tax on the normal scale. The concessions were introduced in 1937 for a period of five years. The scheme was reviewed in 1942 and was extended for five years. It will be reviewed again next year. That policy has succeeded only in encouraging speculation, instead of proper settlement, in the Northern Territory. As the end of each five-year period of the tax concession scheme draws near, many residents of the territory make arrangements to transfer their properties and get out of the region. I know something of the empty north and I support the suggestion that tax concessions greater than those in operation now be granted to the people who live at the front door of this nation.

During the general election campaign of 1949 we were told by the present Government parties that if they were returned to power they would deal with the problem of prices and put value back into the £1. Last year, when Government members were considering the economic position of the country, the question of what is known as revaluation was discussed. One member of the Australian Country party resigned from the party as a result of the stand that he had taken on that measure and subsequently lost his seat. We have heard nothing about revaluation for quite a long time, and it was gradually fading out of the picture prior to the last general election. But it has been reported in the press that there is a possibility that; in the near future, the relationship of the £1 sterling to the dollar will be reviewed. If that relationship were to be altered, the Australian Government would have to review the relationship of the Australian £1 to the £1 sterling, and the farmers and exporters of this country might awaken one morning to find that the returns from the sale of their commodities overseas had been reduced by 20 per cent.

The Governor-General’s Speech, in which the policy of the Government for the next few months was outlined, dealt mainly with communism and defence. There was no reference in it to the burning subject of inflation. .During the course of this debate, honorable members on this side of the House have criticized the lack of action by the Government during the last eighteen months to check the present galloping inflation. Nonsensical statements have been made by Government supporters to the effect that if the Government can deal with the Communists and the unions in the way in which it wishes to deal with them, it will have gone a long way towards solving the problem of inflation. The cry of the majority of honorable gentlemen opposite is “ Communism, communism, and more communism “. Communism was a catch-cry that was used to gull the public at the general elections that were held in 1949 and this year, and it is likely that the Government will try to saddle the old horse again in the next Federal Stakes.

At the last meeting of the Loan Council, the Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) told the State Premiers and Treasurers that loan funds were drying up. Yesterday, the right honorable gentleman said in this chamber that a loan floated by the Commonwealth quite recently was oversubscribed to the extent of 22£ per cent. The Leader of the Opposition (Dr. Evatt) asked whether any alteration had been made of the policy in regard to trading banks participating in or subscribing to Commonwealth loans, and the Treasurer replied that trading banks were still restricted in that connexion. Having regard to the fact that the last Commonwealth loan was over-subscribed, the people of this country want to know why the Treasurer told the State Premiers that loan funds were drying up. I believe that the right honorable gentleman said that because the endeavours of the State governments to carry out public works involving the expenditure of money raised by loans was causing him some concern. He told the States, in effect, that it would not be long before they would be compelled to abandon a great many of their schemes for development and reconstruction. In Queensland, work upon the reconstruction , of roads that were washed out during the wettest year in the history of .the white man’s occupation of the State would have to be curtailed if, as the Treasurer stated was the case, loan funds were drying up.

I am very concerned about inflation in this country. Apparently I am more concerned about it than the Government is, because during the last eighteen months the Government has done little or nothing to check the speed at which it is galloping. It was stated in yesterday’s Sydney Sun that, in the very near future, the Government would have to impose drastic controls because it intends to implement its plan for defence mobilization. The only way in which we can obtain any information about the Government’s health policy is to wait until the Minister for Health (Sir Earle Page) has addressed a meeting of the British Medical Association and then read press reports of his speech. The only source from which we can get any real indication of the Government’s economic policy is the metropolitan press. I assume that the report in the Sydney Sun to which I have referred is fairly accurate. If so, drastic controls will be imposed in this country. It may be that that report is a hint that the” Government is conscious that we are faced with an internal problem. The lack of action by the Government to combat inflation is due either to incompetence or to failure to learn anything from what occurred in 1929. The period between 1919 and 1928 was, in comparison with the present time, a period of mild inflation, but it caused the crash of 1929, as a result of which onethird of the Australian community was thrown out of employment. The government of the day stood idly by during that period of mild inflation. Inflationary conditions are worse now than they were between 1919 and 1928, and a crash will occur unless some action is taken to prevent it, but the Government is apparently content to stand idly by and do nothing to prevent it. It is obeying the dictates of the economist who said in 1949 that the only way in which it was possible to make the present system work was to have a pool of unemployed. It is (ni< that the implementation of the Government’s defence plans will entail a continuation of a policy of full employment, but the pool of unemployed that som<; people believe must be established in order to make the present system work can be established by means of an economic crash. Apparently that is the intention of the Government.

The rate of inflation in this country i< exceeded perhaps only by that in the

United States of America. When the Treasurer introduced the budget last year, he told us that the international situation had deteriorated: Nine months later, we are told that the Government proposes to undertake certain defence works. During the last nine months, the United States of America has speeded up its defence preparations. This Government could learn much from what is happening in America, where an extensive defence programme has been superimposed upon inflationary conditions. It has been estimated by one economist that, by the middle of next year, one-fifth of the goods and services produced in America will be going directly, or indirectly, to the armed services. America is a very wealthy country and may be able to withstand the impact upon its economy of a huge defence programme. Unfortunately, Australia is not so wealthy as is the United States of America and, therefore, the impact upon our economy of inflation and huge defence expenditure will be greater.

The Government should ask the people, by way of referendum, to agree to an alternation of the Constitution to give to the Commonwealth power to control prices in this country. The control of prices by the Commonwealth proved to be very effective during the last war. In 1945, the Australian economy compared favorably with that of any other country because the Commonwealth, under the defence power in the Constitution, had been able to control prices and maintain economic stability. We can learn much from our experiences during the war and from what is occurring at the present time in America. Some people have more faith in economists and economic advisers than I have, but there are one or two of them whose advice leaves one with the feeling, “This fellow is right”. This country had sufficient experience of economists between 1929 and 1932. If the Government conducts the referendum which it intends to hold this year concerning the Communist party it should, at the same time, put before the people the question of control of prices and capital issues. It has been found necessary to exercise these powers in time of war and the Government should ensure that it may adopt similar measures in time of peace. The

Government should put the economy of this country on an even keel and it can do that only by obtaining additional powers by way of a referendum. If it be correct, as is reported in the press, that the Government intends that luxury industries shall close down and that their manpower shall be diverted to defence industries the Government should make sure that it is empowered to bring about this state of affairs. The Government related the Communist Party Dissolution Act to the defence power under the Constitution, but the High Court gave a judgment against the Government.- Acting under the defence power, the Chifley Government continued the rationing of petrol after the war, hut the High Court ruled that the defence power did not operate in respect of such a matter as petrol rationing. The High Court may well decide that the defence power does not enable the Government to close- down luxury industries because it is operative only in time of war or immediately after a war. The history of the Communist Party Dissolution Act is indicative of the fact that the Government waits until something happens and then looks round and wonders where it is going.

There are three accepted bases on which the Government could finance the “ huge “ defence expenditure which it is reported to have undertaken. Finance may be obtained from taxation, from the raising of voluntary loans or by the use of central bank credit. During the last Parliament a new method of finance was introduced by the Treasurer. He introduced a bill under which a certain industry which he regarded as being prosperous was selected for the purpose of providing a forced loan. ‘If the Government wishes the people to be united in rendering every possible assistance in the implementation of the defence programme it should not experiment with methods of finance. The accepted three methods of obtaining money which I have mentioned are sufficient to finance any plans that this Government may adopt. I have not very much faith in the Government’s intentions in relation to this “ huge “ defence expenditure. Last year the Treasurer decided to raise the rate of sales tax on cosmetics and radios. Sales tax is a vicious imposition on the man- with a family because the more dependants a man has the more tax he has to pay. The bachelor who has no dependants does not pay nearly so much as the family man pays by way of sales tax on the commodities that he and his family eat, wear and use. If there is to be equality of sacrifice and an equitable sharing of the cost of defence that cost should be placed on the shoulders of those who are best able to bear it. The basic principle of taxation is ability to pay and he who is best able to bear the burden should carry it. “When the Government holds a referendum it should ask the people for the power to control prices and capital issues and it should ask for the power to ration commodities so that consumer goods will be equitably distributed. Unless the Government does that it may find itself in a position similar to that in which it found itself in connexion with the Communist Party Dissolution Act. I have said that the Government used the Communists as a catch-cry during the general election that was held in 1949. To the consternation of the Government, that catch-cry turned up trumps and it had to take some action in relation to the matter. Consequently, it introduced a bill which it related to the defence powers under the Constitution, although it knew that it did not have the power to put such legislation into effect. The Government knew in advance what the decision of the High Court would be in relation to the Communist Party Dissolution Act. As its cry concerning the Communist party had been so successful in 1949, the Government kept the issue alive. During the general election in 1951 it announced that it would have a referendum on this subject. If the Government had been sincere in its desire to deal with the Communists, and conscious of its responsibility in consequence of the promise that it made to the electors in 1949, it would have submitted a bill for the holding of a referendum on this matter immediately the House met last year. Alternatively, it could have done then what the Prime Minister (Mr. Menzies) has done now. It could have asked the Premiers to concede to it the necessary powers. Now, eighteen months after the general election of 1949, the Government is going to try to obtain these powers at a referendum. If the Government is sincere why did it not make this attempt at the beginning of last year? The manner in which the Communist Party Dissolution Act was drafted indicated that the Government was conscious that there was a doubt about whether it complied with the requirements of the Constitution. Why was not the matter submitted to the people at a referendum immediately? Because it was too good a catch-cry for the purpose of winning a subsequent election. The Government has not been so sincere in relation to communism as it has proclaimed itself to be.

The important issue in this country at present is our economic condition. As the late Mr. Chifley said, “ The horse of inflation is galloping “. As a matter of fact, inflation is now not a horse but a turbo-jet aircraft, so great is its speed. During the last three months wages have been raised because of. increases of prices. When wages rise, prices increase again because wages have risen and the movement sweeps through the country like a bushfire. Inflation of this type has been experienced in the United States of America where the Government has not been prepared to take any action to prevent it. I hope that the Australian Government will take action with regard to the inflationary condition of the economy of this country.

Mr EGGINS:
Lyne

.- I rise to support the motion before the House. I think that honorable members will agree that never in the history of this country has a Treasurer and a government been called upon to face a task as difficult as that which confronts this Government and the present Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden). This task has arisen from the maladministration and the socialistic policies of the former Government and the sudden changes of world events which have thrust upon the Government a great responsibility in relation to defence. It was not realized that this responsibility was so near when the general election was held in 1949. The Government has to deal with this problem as effectively as possible and it deserves the support of this House in carrying out 1 its difficult task.

The honorable member for Kennedy (Mr. Riordan), the honorable member for Fremantle (Mr. Beazley) and other honorable members of the Opposition have spoken on matters that are of little importance at the present time. They have calmly and quietly ignored the real task of increasing production. The honorable member for Kennedy and the honorable member for Kalgoorlie (Mr. Johnson) have delivered very fine speeches on the subject of development. I could speak on development in my own electorate and throughout the Commonwealth in a similar way. Every problem that concerns development is related to the task of supplying the materials that are needed for developmental projects. The honorable member for Kennedy spoke on the raising of loans and the Government’s financial position. Money is of little consideration at the present time. The real task that confronts this country is the production of goods. If this task is not undertaken successfully Australia will face a very difficult situation. “We live in what is almost a fool’s paradise. We speak of matters that are of little importance. [Quorum formed.] This country is suffering damage from shortages of essential goods. That fact places upon us the great responsibility of trying to overcome the production failure due to the maladministration of the former Labour Government. We might be likened to people who live in a fool’s paradise, because we are short of essential commodities and are sailing dangerously close to the wind in regard to food supplies. When we recognize how short we are of food generally, even at a time when we are fortunately passing through, and have passed through, the best seasons that this country has ever experienced, we must realize that should we experience drought conditions again we shall be faced with the full effects of the unfortunate policy of the former Socialist Government. The 40-hour week was introduced when that Government was in office in 1948. I shall not criticize the Commonwealth Arbitration Court for having made the decision that the nation could carry a shorter working week, but I do say that the Government in office at that time should have known better, and should have recognized the inability of the country then to withstand that great alteration of its economy. The fact is that right from that time we have seen the production of this country failing to meet requirements. That is why we are placed in our present very difficult position. We had then just emerged from the war and had to undertake the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen. That task, in itself, -threw a tremendous responsibility on the nation and called for greater, and not less, effort on the part of the people.

I think that I am safe in saying that the proposals for a shorter working week undoubtedly originated in Communist propaganda designed to reduce our production and to create internal problems for us while, at the same time, communism outside this country was threatening us and our allies. The Communist design was to weaken our defence. The same thing happened in regard to the 40-hour week proposal as is now happening in regard to the proposal for a 36-hour week. Everybody in this country would gladly recognize a working week of 40 hours or whatever the court might decide would be in the interests of the people generally, provided that we were to get 40 hours, or whatever the number of hours might be, of work. But the actual working hours in this country have been reduced to 35 a week, which means that all the industries of this country are suffering seriously. A good deal of the evidence that was submitted to the court by trade union representatives when the 40-hour week case was before it, has not been sustained by experience. The Labour Government in 1948 was to blame because it did not approach the court and submit evidence about what the economic result of the reduction of hours would be. I know that courts must make their decisions on the evidence submitted to them, but the fact that the Government submitted no evidence of the economic results of the introduction of a 40-hour week shows that it failed to meet its responsibility to the country. Experience has shown that since the introduction of the 40-hour week no improvement of man-hour production to offset the production loss resultant on the reduction of hours has been achieved. In, say, a small factory where ten men were working a 44-hour week, eleven men had to be employed after the introduction of the 40-hour week, so that the same production as before could be achieved.

There has been no improvement of man-hour production despite the fact that trade union representatives who submitted evidence to the court told it that in a shorter working week increased production would be achieved because there would be less fatigue among the workers. The introduction of the 40-hour week was the commencing point of the drift of our economy. Nobody could avoid recognizing the effect that its introduction would have on our industries generally, as well as its further effect on rural industry. When the 40-hour week was introduced, why did not the Government of the day make some preparation to meet its effects, instead of leaving the task to this Government? The former Governmentneglected that responsibility, and it was not until the present Government came into office that there was any realization of the need for increased capital expenditure in this country. The present Government made arrangements with the International Bank for a dollar loan that made possible the importation of an extensive range of capital goods that are being brought here for installation in the various industries which will enable us to achieve a marked increase of production. If the Chifley Government had recognized the need for additional mechanization that arose from the reduction of working hours, these capital goods would have been in this country long ago and already would have been working towards improving our economy.

Honorable members opposite have spoken of the need for development and the opportunities for it, and have stated that they recognize the country’s inability to supply all the means that are necessary for that development. But the Government that they supported failed to take the necessary steps to ensure increased production. In the first speech that the Leader of the Opposition (Dr. Evatt) made in his new capacity, he made sweeping charges against the Government to the effect that it had not provided the means to develop this country. In 1948, when the 40-hour week was introduced, and the effective working week fell to only 35 or 36 hours, this country missed its opportunity through the failure of the Labour ^Government, and many amenities required by the people disappeared. Whether the then Government thought that it was assisting the masses by its failure to inform the court of the results of a shorter working week is a matter about which we can form our own opinions; but the actual fact is that its inaction has brought to the people a good deal of misery that could have been avoided by prompt action in 1948. However, under the influence of Communist-dominated forces within its political organization, the Labour Government had to yield to pressure and allow the 40-hour week to become operative, to the detriment of this nation.

The introduction of the shorter working week has had a most vital effect on the primary industries of this country. When the production of secondary industry is adversely affected the production of primary industry must also be similarly affected. The primary producers of Australia have always been the greatest body of purchasers of the products of secondary industry. But when they could not obtain all the supplies of manufactured goods that they needed, they in disgust eased up in their work and of necessity just carried on as best they could. It must be said to the credit of the primary industries that they have struggled to maintain production of the main food lines where it was in 1942. Much of their success has been due to the good seasons that we have been experiencing for some years. Our primary industries are our most efficient industries, because the men and women who remain in them are experienced in them, and have carried on under the most difficult conditions. Because of their experience they have been able to keep production up. The dairying industry is one primary industry that has recently come before the notice of the public more than it ever did before.

The honorable member for Macarthur (Mr. Jeff Bate) last night gave a full recital of what had happened in that industry, including the requests that it had made to the previous Government and the failure of that Government to meet them. As he showed, it was a case of “too little too late”. What has happened in connexion with the production of milk? The latest figures available, which are for last year, show that production of milk is approximately the same as is was in 1942. That fact is due to the good seasons that we have experienced in recent years. However, there has_been a marked change in the use of milk. The annual production of milk in 1942 was 1,105,000,000 gallons. Production last year had risen to 1,253,000,000 gallons. I have obtained certain figures concerning the use of milk which may be of interest to- honorable members. In 1942, ordinary fluid milk used for domestic purposes amounted to 25.5 gallons a head throughout Australia. At present, Australians use 31.3 gallons a head of such milk. In 1942, 12.2 gallons of milk a head were used to make condensory products. That has increased until now 12.7 gallons a head are used. This large increase of the use of fluid milk has been at the expense of the production of butter. That is one of the main reasons why butter production at present is very low. In considering the figures that I have placed before the House, it should be remembered that, although the consumption of milk per head of population has increased since 1942, the population of Australia has also increased by about 600,000 or 700,000. The task of supplying the increasing population is a great responsibility, and one that the industry has accepted very well considering the conditions under which it is being conducted.

The effect of the 40-hour week on the primary industries of Australia has been severe. That is mainly because the introduction of the 40-hour week has caused young men and women to leave primary production for the brighter lights of the cities and country towns. Thousands of such young people have left our primary industries. In many country towns new factories have been built which have attracted workers from the farms. In my own electorate, clothing factories were established in the dark days of 1942 and 1943 in four of the most important towns. Frome 100 to 150 young women have been attracted from the surrounding district into those factories. Some young men are also employed there. The greater number of those young people left primary industries to work in the factories. Other young men have entered other positions in country towns and cities where they work ‘ fewer hours and receive more pay. Primary industries, particularly the dairying industry, cannot compete in wages and conditions with secondary industries. The failure of the previous Government to recognize that fact and to ensure that the dairying industry should be given encouragement at the right time was a very serious governmental blunder. Once the dairying industry, or for that matter any stock industry, begins to slip back, some years must elapse before it can be restored to full production. Our agricultural industries can be built up perhaps in one or two years by the correct planting of crops, but a r.un-down livestock industry needs five years’ hard work to restore it to full efficiency.

A number of dairy-farmers, owing to the difficulties under which they were working,” have changed to the rearing of beef cattle. Moreover, the latter type of farming requires less labour and material than does the former. In almost any part of the north coast of New South Wales honorable members may see that hardly a farm is adequately fenced. That is because fencing materials have not been available during the last four or five years. If a farm cannot be adequately fenced and subdivided into paddocks it cannot be efficiently managed. Galvanized iron for buildings is badly needed, and evidence of the shortage of this material is apparent throughout our coastal dairying areas. I have no doubt that such shortages are general throughout Australian primary industries. When all the difficulties under which the primary industries are labouring are made known, honorable members of this House and the people of the country will pay a grateful tribute to the magnificent efforts of our primary producers which have resulted in the maintenance of our production of the necessaries of life. However, I warn the House that when the industry is afflicted by droughts,, there will he acute shortages of all dairy products and then the cry of “ What has become of our dairy produce ? “ will rise from the critics. However, I have every confidence that this Government will recognize the difficulties of our primary industries and in particular will help to restore the dairying industry to its old efficiency.

Honorable members opposite, when they attack the Government’s efforts to increase production, and fail to appreciate the industrial needs of the country, are neglecting their responsibilities to Australia. Australian production has not increased by much more than 10 per cent, since the war ended. In the private enterprise countries of the United States and Canada, production is between 50 per cent, and 70 per cent, better than it was when the war ended. In those countries the evidence is quite apparent of the mighty effort that is being made to make up the loss of production caused by the war. At a most inconvenient time in the history of Australia the 40-hour week was introduced. The 40-hour week would not have had such a bad effect on production if people had worked an actual 40 hours each week. However, a survey of industry clearly indicates that the average effective working hours in industry are not more than 35 or 36. That is a great weakness in the industrial life of this country, and instead of talking about matters that are not of immediate concern, honorable members opposite would do well to address their attention to the organizations with which they are associated. They should try to instil into them an awareness of our need for materials to carry out our defence plans and our natural development. No honorable member of this House would like to see an effective 40-hour week more than I, but when the 40-hour week develops into a 35 or 36 hour week, it is time we woke up to the danger and ceased to live in our present fool’s paradise. The Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) has a more difficult task than has ever confronted any Australian Treasurer. During the war our economy was almost ruined by the socialist policy of Labour governments. That policy was carried into the post-war years when the Government of the day sought to socialize shipping, airlines, coal and banking.None of those schemes has brought one pound of real wealth into the country and the Treasurer now has to try to remedy the harm that has been done to our economy. If the Government had used the money and the time spent on socialization schemes on the development of our primary and secondary industries we should be in a much better economic position than we are at present.

Now the Treasurer has completely to change the industrial outlook of the country and has to try to approach our problems in a reasonable and proper fashion. If he does not succeed, our economic position will be much more serious in the future and, what is worse,we shall not be able to defend Australia. These problems must be tackled in a serious fashion otherwise production will fall and we shall not be able to develop Australia or to keep it.

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) proposed -

That the question be now put.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Before I put the question, I point out that the House, by its unanimous agreement, decided to debate eight bills together.

Mr Tom Burke:

– I rise to a point of order. The debate now taking place in the House has, with the concurrence of the Opposition, been greatly curtailed. Also, with the agreement of the Opposition, eight bills have been debated at the one time. The Opposition has not taken advantage of its full time for debate and, moreover, at least one member of the Opposition still wishes to speak. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to rule whether, that agreement having been honoured strictly in the letter by the members of the Opposition, you are obliged to accept a motion “ That the question be now put “ when a member of the Opposition has risen to speak.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Standing Order 87 reads -

The following matters are not open to debate, shall be moved without argument or opinion offered, and shall be forthwith put from the Chair without amendement: -

Question that a member be further heard ( Standing Order No. 86 ) ;

Motion for adjournment of debate (Standing Order No. 88);

Notice to reinstate on the Notice Paper any business which has lapsed because of acount out (Standing Order No. 91);

Motion for extension of time (Standing Order No. 92 ) ;

Question put following declaration of urgency ( Standing Order 93 ) :

Motion that the question be now put (Standing Order No. 94) ; .

The motion “ That the question be now put” is included in that list ; therefore the motion submitted by the honorable member for Dawson (Mr. Davidson) is perfectly in order.

Dr Evatt:

– I rise to order. Will you, Mr. Speaker, define the question that is to be put ? I take it to relate to the one bill before the House and not to the others that have been debated, by agreement, concurrently with that measure.

Mr SPEAKER:

– I have no knowledge of any agreement between the Government and the Opposition. All that I know is that when the debate commenced the request was made from the Government benches that the eight bills that were named should be debated together. If the Opposition desires to have a separate vote in each case, that is a matter that is outside my knowledge and control.

Mr Calwell:

– I rise to a point of order. It will be recollected, Mr. Speaker, that yesterday, when the VicePresident of the Executive Council (Mr. Eric J. Harrison) was given permission to make a statement, he suggested the course that has since been followed. I then said, and it is on record, that the Opposition took that statement to mean that all the eight bills would be discussed together and that each bill would be voted on separately at the conclusion of the debate. The honorable gentleman did not dissent from that view.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable member is not raising a point of order. I do not know how he makes his remarks relevant to a point of order. I have no knowledge, and I do not desire to have any knowledge, of anything that took place between the Government and the Opposition.

Mr Calwell:

– Is not a statement made in the House with the consent of the Prime Minister a matter for your cognizance ?

Mr SPEAKER:

– No ; I have no knowledge of agreements between the Government and the Opposition and I do not intend to have such knowledge.

Mr ERIC J HARRISON:
WENTWORTH, NEW SOUTH WALES · UAP; LP from 1944

– I should like to make an explanation, Mr. Speaker.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! Is the honorable member raising a point of order ?

Mr ERIC J HARRISON:
WENTWORTH, NEW SOUTH WALES · UAP; LP from 1944

– If a point of order is before the Chair, I should like to address myself to it.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! No point of order is before the Chair.

Mr ERIC J HARRISON:
WENTWORTH, NEW SOUTH WALES · UAP; LP from 1944

– It is purely a case of misapprehension on the part of the Opposition.

Question put -

That the question be now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 58

NOES: 39

Majority . . . . 19

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee:

Clauses 1 and 2 agreed to.

Clause 3 (Issue and application of £120,154,000).

Mr DALY:
Grayndler

.- Would I be in order, Mr. Chairman, in discussing at this juncture the expenditure proposed to be incurred in respect of the Department of External Affairs.?

The CHAIRMAN’ (Mr Adermann:
FISHER, QUEENSLAND

– No; the honorable member may discuss the matter when the committee .is considering the Schedule.

Mr PETERS:
Burke

– I direct attention to the necessity to make provision for governmental activities other than those for which provision is made in the Schedule to the bill. Early last year I stressed the tragic position that has developed in Victoria as the result of the inadequacy of hospital accommodation. I then pointed out that thousands of persons were being refused admission to hospitals and were virtually being condemned to die because of that denial of medical attention to them. The Government has the responsibility of ensuring that sufficient hospital accommodation shall be provided for the sick in the community.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order ! The honorable -member will not be in order in discussing that matter on this clause. He may do so when the Schedule to the bill is under consideration.

Mr PETERS:

– The point that I wish to make is that, in view of the Government’s failure to provide adequate hospital accommodation, the expenditure proposed under the clause will not be in the best interests of the community.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member will not be in order in proceeding along those lines.

Mr Tom BURKE:

– I rise to order, Mr. Chairman. Under the clause it is proposed to appropriate a sum in respect of various departments, including the Department of Health. I submit that the honorable member for Burke (Mr.

Peters) is in order in discussing the matter of hospital accommodation in Victoria, which is associated in some way with the administration of that department.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order ! I have already ruled that a discussion of the matter that the honorable member for Burke has raised is not relevant to the clause.

Mr CLARK:

– I rise to order, Mr. Chairman. Are not honorable members entitled to seek the redress of grievances before they agree to the proposed appropriation? As provision is made in the bill in respect of the Department of Health, is not the honorable member for Burke (Mr. Peters) entitled to discuss a grievance in relation to the administration of that department?

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member should know, as the result of his experience in the chair, that an honorable member may not make a second-reading speech in committee.

Mr WARD:
EAST SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES · ALP; LANG LAB from 1932; ALP from 1936

– Well, what may we discuss ?

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! I shall not tell honorable members what they may discuss, but shall listen to what they have to say and then - decide whether or not their remarks are relevant to the clause.

Mr CLARK:

– I submit, Mr. Chairman, that honorable members are entitled to seek the redress of grievances before they approve the appropriation proposed under the clause.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! I have already ruled on that point.

Mr PETERS:

– Would I be in order, Mr. Chairman, in moving an amendment to provide that the amount proposed to be appropriated should be increased by £10,000,000 ?

The CHAIRMAN:

– No; such an amendment would vary the resolution that has already been adopted by the House.

Mr Tom BURKE:

– I submit, Mr. Chairman, that as the amount proposed to be appropriated covers a number of departments the committee is entitled to seek the redress of grievances in respect of the administration of any of. those departments before it agrees to the clause.

There are very grave grievances against the Department of Health and its Minister.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member may discuss that matter when the Schedule to the bill is under consideration, but not in relation to the clause before the Chair.

Mr TOM BURKE:
Perth

.- The Treasurer has not replied to matters that were raised by honorable members in the second-reading debate, and has not attempted to justify the request of the Government for an amount of £120,154,000. The right honorable gentleman has been completely vague, and has given us no information. Indeed, he has treated the chamber with contempt by his refusal to reply to the secondreading debate.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! Will the honorable gentleman relate his remarks to the clause under consideration?

Mr TOM BURKE:

– I submit, with great respect, that I am addressing my remarks to the clause, which deals with the issue and application of £120,154,000.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member has been attacking the Treasurer. He should relate his remarks to clause 3.

Mr TOM BURKE:

– The purpose of the clause is to appropriate an amount of £120,154,000 for purposes that are described in detail in the schedule. Before the committee agrees to this clause, the Treasurer should explain the financial policy of the Government. The “gagging” of the second-reading debate was as unexpected as it was undesirable. The Opposition demands that before the request of the .Government for the appropriation of £120,154,000 is granted, the Treasurer shall justify the proposed expenditure.

Mr DALY:
Grayndler

.- I direct the attention of the Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) to the proposed vote of £38,107 for expenditure upon equipment and furniture for the Australian Legation in Italy.

Sir Arthur Fadden:

– The honorable member is not in order in raising that matter on clause 3.

Mr DALY:

– The clause under consideration deals with the issue and application of an amount of £120,154,000, which includes the sum of £38,107 for equipment and furniture for the Australian Legation in Italy.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member may not discuss that item on this clause.

Mr POLLARD:
Lalor

.- The committee is asked to agree to clause 3, which involves the expenditure of a large sum of money upon a variety of governmental activities. I suggest that if the Chair will permit me to proceed, I may be able to demonstrate to the Government a method by which it may save unnecessary expenditure and avoid many difficulties in future. In those circumstances, I submit that I shall be completely justified in pointing out that the immigration policy of the Government-

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order!

Mr POLLARD:

– The Government is asking the Parliament to provide a considerable sum of money for the purposes of immigration.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member will not be in order in raising that matter on the clause now under consideration. The question before the Chair is whether the sum of £120,154,000 shall be issued or not. I ask the honorable gentleman to relate his remarks to that matter.

Mr POLLARD:

– Shall I be in order in proceeding to give my reasons for believing that certain expenditure should not be incurred?

The CHAIRMAN:

– Not on this clause.

Mr KEON:
Yarra

.- The purpose of this clause is to approve of the issue and application of an amount of £120,154,000. I am opposed to granting the Government that sum, and, therefore, I am opposed to the clause. I assume, Mr. Chairman, that I shall be in order in opposing it. One of my reasons for so doing, apart from the general fact that this Government is not administering the affairs of the country in the interests of the people, is that a large percentage of the amount of £120,154,000 will be earmarked for the payment of the salaries of public servants who are employed in various departments, boards and commissions. The policy on which the Government was returned to office included a promise to take steps to curtail the activities of. the bureaucracy, and to prevent the expenditure of money upon an excessive number of public servants. Such a promise was repeatedly made by Government supporters in the general election campaign in 1949. I believe that before the committee approves of the expenditure of such a huge sum, it should be told whether the Government has made tiny attempt to give effect to that preelection promise.

Mr Anthony:

– I rise to order. The honorable member for Yarra (Mr. Keon) is seeking to discuss an item dealing with the Public Service Board, in the proposed vote for the Prime Minister’s Department. The Public Service Board is the authority that deals with the Public Service generally. I submit that the honorable member is trying, by a devious method, to avoid the previous ruling of the Chair.

The CHAIRMAN:

– The point of order is upheld.

Mr Rosevear:

– I propose to move dissent from your ruling, Mr. Chairman. Although the statement by the PostmasterGeneral (Mr. Anthony), that the matter raised by thehonorable member for Yarra (Mr. Keon) appears in the schedule, is true, the clause under consideration relates–

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order ! The honorable member has stated that he proposes to dissent from my ruling. I ask him to submit his objection in writing.

Mr.Rosevear having submitted his objection to the ruling in writing,

Mr Rosevear:

– I submit that the clause now under consideration deals with the total amount - -

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The Standing Orders provide that if any objection is taken to the ruling of the Chairman of Committees, such objection shall be stated at once in writing and shall be forthwith decided by the committee. I accordingly now put the question.

Mr Tom Burke:

– I rise to order. Am I correct in assuming, Mr. Chairman, that your ruling means that a motion to dissent from the ruling of the Chair may not be discussed, and that not even the mover may be heard in support of it ?

The CHAIRMAN:

– “What other construction can be placed on the standing order ?

Mr Tom Burke:

– A very different construction can be placed upon it.

Question resolved in the negative.

Clause agreed to.

Clauses 4 and 5 agreed to.

Schedule.

Mr DALY:
Grayndler

.- I direct the attention of the Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) to the proposed vote of £38,107 for equipment and furniture for the Australian Legation in Italy. The provision of such a large amount for equipment and furniture for a legation is extraordinary, particularly in view of the fact that only £1,981 has been provided for equipment and furniture for the Australian Legation in Israel, £945 for a similar purpose for the Australian Legation in Egypt, and £16,612 for building, equipment and furniture for the Australian Embassy in France. I hope that the Treasurer will give us some information about the kind of equipment and furniture that is to be purchased for such a large sum for the Australian Legation in Italy. If he is not in a position to do so now, I ask him to take the necessary steps to ensure that extravagance will be avoided, particularly at a time when the Government is calling upon the Australian people to make savings.

Mr GULLETT:
Henty

.- I rise to support in their entirety the remarks of the honorable member for Grayndler (Mr. Daly).

Mr Curtin:

-What about the Australian Embassy in Moscow?

Mr GULLETT:

– That is another matter. The committee is asked to approve of the expenditure of £38,107 on equipment and furniture for the Australian Legation in Italy. I should have thought that for such a sum the Government could purchase a large building and furnish and equip it and pay the salaries of the staff. I consider that, if this proposal is approved, it will be evidence of a complete disregard for reasonable expenditure, and of an absence of a proper check upon the expenditure of Government funds. I should like the Treasurer (Sir Arthur Fadden) to explain the reason why such a large amount has been allocated for the purchase of equipment and furniture. If there is a reason, I shall be interested to hear it.

Sir ARTHUR FADDEN:
McPhersonTreasurer · CP

– The honorable member for Grayndler (Mr. Daly) has referred to an item in the Treasurer’s Financial Statement for the year 1949-50. I remind him that the committee is considering the schedule of the Supply Bill (No. 1) 1951-52. The only reference in that measure to expenditure upon the Australian Legation in Italy is to be found under the proposed vote for the Department of External Affairs. The total amount provided for the Australian Legation in Italy is £12,800, which is made up of £8,200 for salaries and payments in the nature of salary, and £4,600 for general expenses. I advise the honorable member for Grayndler to make sure in future that he is speaking to the bill that is under consideration.

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) put -

That the question be now put.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 40

Majority . . . . 13

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Schedule agreed to.

Title agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment-, report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

page 540

SUPPLY (WORKS AND SERVICES) BILL (No. 1) 1951-52

Second Reading

Debate resumed from the 20th June (vide page 137), on motion by Sir Arthur Fadden -

That the bill be now read a second time.

Mr TOM BURKE:
Perth

.- Mr. Speaker–

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! I have already put the question and declared the result.

Mr TOM BURKE:

– I was on my feet first and had called to you by name, Mr. Speaker.

Mr SPEAKER:

– I did not hear you and I did not see you.

Mr TOM BURKE:

– I may be small, but that should not be a disqualification.

Mr SPEAKER:

– You are not singular in that respect.

Mr TOM BURKE:

– This is a bill to grant supply to the Government for works and services–

Motion (by Mr. Gullett) proposed -

That the question he now put.

Mr Bird:

– Bushranger!

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order! I will not permit any language of that sort here, not even from Victorians.

Question put -

That the question be now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 55

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 14

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee :

The bill. ‘

Mr TOM BURKE:
Perth

.- This is a measure to grant Supply to the Government for the purposes of works and services. The Government should give a full explanation of the reasons why it requires these sums of money. Why is it that an appropriation of £5,000 is sought for the Parliament? I ask the Treasurer to state in detail how it is proposed that that sum shall be expended.

Motion (by Mr. Gullett) put -

That the question be put.

The Committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 54

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 13

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

page 542

APPROPRIATION BILL (No. 2) 1950-51

Second Reading

Debate resumed from the 20th June (vide page 139), on motion by Sir Arthur Fadden) -

That the bill be now read a second time.

Mr TOM BURKE:
Perth

.- This is another bill regarding which the Opposition–

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) put -

That the question be put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 54

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 13

In division:

AYES

NOES

Mr SPEAKER:

– It is not in order for an honorable member to read a newspaper while business is proceeding in this chamber.

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee :

The bill.

Mr TOM BURKE:
Perth

.- I direct attention to the expenditure of £547,000 proposed in connexion with the Department of Works and Housing.

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) put -

That the question be now put.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C.F. Adermann.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment: report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

page 543

APPROPRIATION (WORKS AND SERVICES) BILL (No. 2) 1950-51

Second Reading

Debate resumed from the 20th June (vide page 140), on motionby Sir Arthur Fadden -

That the bill be now read a second time.

Mr TOM BURKE:
Perth

.- Mr. Speaker–

Mr SPEAKER:

– I point out to the honorable member for Perth (Mr. Tom Burke) that when he commenced his speech on the Supply Bill yesterday he said that he was speaking on behalf of the Opposition on these bills. He used the plural, as applying to all the appropriation and supply measures before the House. Obviously, he cannot make two speeches on them.

Mr TOM BURKE:

– They are separate bills. You, yourself, Mr. Speaker, said a few minutes ago that you had no knowledge of any agreement.

Mr SPEAKER:

– I have no knowledge of any agreement, but I have checked what was said.

Motion (by Mr. Gullett) put -

That the question be now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee:

The bill. .

Mr TOM BURKE:
Perth

.- Mr. Chairman–

Motion (by Mr. Gullett) put -

That the question be now put.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C.F. Adermann.)

AYES: 51

NOES: 41

Majority . . 10

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

page 544

LOAN BILL 1951

Second Reading

Debate resumed from the 20th June (vide page 140), on motion by Sir Arthur Fadden -

That thebill be now read a second time.

Mr WARD:
East Sydney

.- Mr. Speaker–

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) put -

That the question be now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 52

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 11

In division:

AYES

NOES

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! Newspapers must not be read in the chamber.

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee:

The bill.

Motion (by Mr. Gullett) put-

That the question be now put.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C.F. Adermann.)

AYES: 52

NOES: 41

Majority . . : . 11

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

page 546

WAR PENSIONS APPROPRIATION BILL 1951

Second Reading

Debate resumed from the 20th June (vide page 140), on motion by Sir Arthur Fadden -

That the bill be now read a second time.

Mr HAYLEN:
Parkes

.- Mr. Speaker–

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) put -

That the question be now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee:

The bill.

Mr HAYLEN:
Parkes

.- This bill is for an appropriation ofMotion (by Mr. Davidson) put -

That the question be now put.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 52

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 11

In division:

AYES

NOES

The CHAIRMAN:

– There is too much audible conversation.

Audible conversation continuing,

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member for Cunningham (Mr. Davies) will cease his conversation when I call for silence. Order ! The honorable member for East Sydney (Mr. Ward)–

Mr Ward:

– I did not speak, Mr. Chairman.

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– I direct your attention, Mr. Chairman, to the honorable member for Mackellar (Mr. Wentworth) and the honorable member for MacArthur (Mr. Jeff Bate), who are reading newspapers. Perhaps the honorable member for Mackellar is so interested in the Tribune that he cannot stop reading it.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order !

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

page 547

SUPPLEMENTARY APPROPRIATION BILL 1949-50

Second Reading

Debate resumed from the 20th June (vide page 142), on motion by Sir Arthur Fadden -

That the bill be now read a second time.

Mr WARD:
East Sydney

.- This bill–

Motion (by Mr. Gullett) put -

That the question be now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Thursday, 28 June 1951

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee:

The bill.

Mr WARD:
East Sydney

– The conduct of the Government in handling this legislation has been absolutely scandalous.

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) proposed -

That the question be now put.

Mr Beazley:

– Why do you look to your right, Mr. Chairman, as soon as any one on this side of the chamber starts to speak ?

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member forFremantle(Mr. Beazley) is not running this show. The question is -

That the question be now put.

I ask honorable members who require a division to stand.

Opposition members having risen,

The CHAIRMAN:

– The committee will divide.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 52

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 11

In division:

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.

Bill - by leave - read a third time.

page 548

SUPPLEMENTARY APPROPRIATION (WORKS AND SERVICES) BILL 1949-50

Second Reading

Debate resumed from the 20th June (vide page 142), on motion by Sir Arthur Fadden -

That the bill be now read a second time.

Mr WARD:
East Sydney

– As I was saying when I was interrupted while speaking on the previous measure–

Honorable members interjecting.,

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The House is getting out of order. This frivolity must stop. The honorable member for East Sydney (Mr. Ward) will apologize to me for continuing to speak while I was on my feet.

Mr Ward:

– I do.

Mr SPEAKER:

– The honorable member will stand up and apologize.

Mr Ward:

– I apologize.

Mr SPEAKER:

– The honorable member will say for what he is apologizing.

Mr Ward:

– What is it for?

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable member will apologize in proper form.

Mr Ward:

– I did.

Mr.SPE AKER.- Order ! The honorable member will be good enough to apologize.

Mr Ward:

– Iapologize.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order! The honorable member will say what he is apologizing for.

Mr Ward:

– I do not know what I am apologizing for. I apologize for something, but I do not know what it is about.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! That is not satisfactory. There is only one remedy.

Mr Ward:

– I apologize in compliance with your request.

Mr SPEAKER:

– I require the honorable member to apologize for having contravened the Standing Orders by continuing to speak while I was on my feet.

Mr Ward:

– I do not know whether I can repeat all that, word perfect. If you will write it out for me, I may be able to do so.

Mr SPEAKER:

– Order ! The honorable member knows what I want.

Mr Ward:

– I shall do my best. . I apologize for speaking while you were on your feet.

Motion (by Mr. Eric J.. Harrison) put -

That the questionbe now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 12

In division:

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Question put -

That the bill be now read aeecond time.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 12

In division:

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a second time.

In committee:

Clause 1 (Short title).

Question put -

That the clause be agreed to.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr.c. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 52

NOES: 41

Majority . . 11

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Clause 2 (Appropriation of £2,490,894).

Mr WARD:
East Sydney

– I desire even at this late juncture to take the opportunity–

Motion (by Mr. Eric J. Harrison) put -

That the question be now put.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 12

In division:

AYES

NOES

The CHAIRMAN:

– Before I put the question I ask the honorable member for Hunter (Mr. James) to apologize to the Chair.

Mr James:

– I apologize to the Chair for saying that I was hungry.

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Question put -

That the clause be agreed to.

The commitee divided. (The.Chairman - Mr. C.F. Adermann.)

Ayes . . . . . . 52

Noes . . . . . . 40

Majority . . . . 12

Conversation being audible.,

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! Irrespective of the side of the chamber from which the interruption comes; I shall invoke Standing Order 303.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable member for Darling (Mr. Clark.) will leave the chamber. He is familiar with the Standing Orders, and he has been a consistent offender throughout the evening.

The honorable, member for Darling thereupon withdrew from thechamber.

Mr Tom Burke:

– Will you explain, Mr. Chairman, the. authority under which you order an honorable member to leave the chamber during a division-? Will you further state the reason for which you ordered the honorable member for Darling to leave the chamber?

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order ! The. honorable member for Perth (Mr. Tom Burke) must remain silent during a division.

Mr Tom Burke:

– The Standing; Orders provide that, an honorable member, having covered his head, may address the Chair on a point of: order. The Standing Orders further provide that no honorable member shall move from his place during a division. My right to raise a, point of order is surely sustained. I should now like to know the rule, practice or precedent under which you, Mr. Chairman, have ordered the honorable member for Darling to leave the chamber during a division.

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order ! The honorable member knows that the bells were ringing at that time. The division is now being taken.

Mr Tom Burke:

– No honorable member may leave his place during a division.

The CHAIRMAN:

– The doors were open when I ordered the honorable member for Darling to leave the chamber, and members are free to come and. go whilst the doors are still open. The honorable member for Perth knows that my statement is correct.

Mr Tom Burke:

– No, sir, once the bells have been rung–

The CHAIRMAN:

– Order! The honorable gentleman knows the position perfectly well.

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Schedule.

Mr WARD:
East Sydney

– I should like to make reference to the schedule, if I may be permitted to do so.

Motion (by Mr. Gullett) put -

That the questionbe now put.

The Committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 51

NOES: 40

Majority … . . 11

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Question put -

That the schedule be agreed to.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 51

NOES: 40

Majority . . . . 11

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Title.

Motion (by Mr. Ericj. Harrison) put -

That the questionbenow put.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 51

NOES: 39

Majority . . . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

The honorable member for Darling, by permission of the Chairman, was readmitted to the committee.

Question put -

That the title be agreed to.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 51

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 10

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Question put -

That the bill he reported without amendment.

The committee divided. (The Chairman - Mr. C. F. Adermann.)

AYES: 50

NOES: 41

Majority . . 9

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill reported without amendment.

Motion (by Sir Arthur Fadden) put -

That the report be adopted.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Report adopted.

Third Reading

Mr SPEAKER:

– Is leave granted?

Opposition Members. - No.

Leave not granted.

Motion (by Mr. Eric J. Harrison) put -

That so much of the Standing Orders be suspended as would prevent the remaining stage being passed without delay.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker- Hon. Archie Cameron,)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Motion (by Sir Arthurfadden) put -

That the bill be now reada third time:

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon.. Archie, Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority . . . . 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in the affirmative.

Bill read a third time. address-in-reply.

Presentation to the Governor-General.

Mr SPEAKER:

– i desire to inform the House that, accompanied by honorable members, i waited to-day upon His Excellency the Governor-General at Government House and presented to him the Address-in-Replyto His Excellency’s Speech on the opening of the first session of the Twentieth Parliament, agreed to by the House on the 22nd June. His Excellency was pleased to make the following reply : -

Mr. Speaker,

I desire to thank you for the AddressinReply, which you have just presented to me.

It will afford me much pleasure to convey to His Host Gracious Majesty the King the message of loyalty from the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, to which the address gives expression.

page 557

ADJOURNMENT

Motion (by Mr. Eric J. Harrison) proposed -

That the House do now adjourn.

Mr CLYDE CAMERON:
HINDMARSH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA · ALP

– I desire to raise a matter–

Motion (by Mr. Davidson) put -

That the question be now put.

The House divided. (Mr. Speaker - Hon. Archie Cameron.)

AYES: 53

NOES: 41

Majority 12

AYES

NOES

Question so resolved in. the affirmative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

page 557

PAPERS

The following papers were presented : -

Defence Act and Naval Defence Act - Regulations - Statutory Rules 1951, No. 44.

Defence Forces Retirement Benefits Act - Second Report of the Defence Forces Retirement Benefits Board, for year 1949-50.

Lands Acquisition Act- Land acquired for - Defence purposes - Penrith, New South Wales.

Department of Civil Aviation purposes - Mascot, New South Wales.

Life Insurance Act - Fifth Annual Report of the Insurance Commissioner, for 1950.

Postmaster-General’s Department - Fortieth Annual Report, for year 1949-50.

Public Service Act - Appointments - Department -

Health - L. M. Carr; L. J. Rhodes,. G. D. Rimes.

Trade and Customs - S. P. Fraser.

House adjourned at 1.15 a.m. (Thursday).

page 557

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

The following, answers to questions were circulated: -

Diplomatic Receptions: Sydney “Daily Mirror” Report

Mr Ward:

d asked the Prime Minister, upon notice -

  1. Has he seen an, article appearing in a Sydney evening newspaper of the 30th May, 1951, under the caption “How far do receptions help international diplomacy”’, of which the following is an extract: -

He was a guest of the former Japanese Minister to Australia (Dr. Kawai), at. a party in the Canberra. Hotel on the eve of the Pacific War at which some Australian notables having drunk more than was good for them talked more: than was, good for their country.

  1. Has he taken any steps to institute inquiries to ascertain who the “ notables “ were to whom reference is made in the article and the nature of the information which they possessed, and of which it. is alleged they spoke, when in an intoxicated state?

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

  1. No.
  2. No; nor will any steps be taken.

Commonwealth Jubilee Celebrations

Mr Ward:

d asked the Prime Minister, upon notice -

  1. What was the total cost of thu jubilee functions and celebrations associated with the opening of the present Parliament?
  2. Will he make available a detailed statement itemizing the various costs incurred?
  3. Was any difficulty experienced in respect of catering arrangements because of the existing shortages of foodstuffs in Australia?
  4. Will he state to what extent production in Australia was affected by the absence from their normal activities of the privileged people who were invited to attend the celebrations?
Mr Menzies:
LP

– The answers to the honorable member’s questions are as follows : - 1 and 2. Such details as can be ascertained in answer to the honorable member’s question will be made known to him when the information becomes available. 3 and 4. Difficulties common to all large catering bodies were experienced in procuring supplies for the jubilee functions. It is not considered, however, that any undue strain on foodstuffs in short supply or on production was occasioned.

Immigration

Mr Ward:

d asked the Minister for Immigration, upon notice -

  1. Have any immigrants been flown to Australia under any scheme whereby the Commonwealth Government contributes either in part or all the cost of transport?
  2. If so, what is the total number of immigrants brought to Australia by this means, and what has been the average cost per person mid the total cost to date?
Mr Holt:
LP

– The answers to the honorable member’s questions are as follows . -

  1. . Yes. The Commonwealth Government has contributed towards the cost of air passages for certain migrants who travelled to Australia under the following schemes: - (a) Assisted passage agreement with the United Kingdom Government; (6) assisted passage agreement with the Netherlands Government; (c) assisted passage agreement with the Maltese Government; (<?) Empire and allied ex-servicemen’s scheme; and (e) displaced persons’ scheme.
  2. The numbers transported by air and for whom the Commonwealth Government made a contribution, were - (1) (a), 39; (1) (6), 174; (1) (c), 2; (1) [d), 3,097; (1) (e), 225; total, 3,537. The average cost to the Commonwealth per person was approximately £28 sterling. In no case did the amount exceed that which the Commonwealth would have paid had the migrant travelled by ship. The total cost to date is approximately £101,500 sterling.

War Graves.

Mr Francis:
LP

s. - On the 20th June, the honorable member for Isaacs (Mr. Haworth) asked me a question regarding a ceremony which took place on the 12th June, 1951, at the British Commonwealth War Cemetery, in Yokohama, Japan. I answered this question at the time but promised to obtain more information on the subject by signal from Japan. I am now able to advise the honorable member as follows : -

No instructions or directions of any kind were sent from Australia regarding the form that this service should take. The ceremony referred to was not the dedication of the cemetery, nor was the ceremony a religious one. The British War Graves Cemetery in Yokohama is the burial place for members of the Commonwealth nations including British. Indian, Canadian, New Zealand, and Australian. The cemetery is divided into area? for each nation, and each national group if composed of various religious denominations, not all Christian, and the Imperial War Graves Commission is at all times cu refill to ensure that no particular religious denomination i? given preference and that all are treated alike. The ceremony referred to was the unveiling of the Cross of Sacrifice in the cemetery. This cross is not a religious emblem but is the emblem of the Imperial War Graves Commission common to ail their cemeteries. It is a stone cross on which is erected a bronze Crusader-type sword as a token of sacrifice. This is acceptable to all religions, including the Jewish, but not the Indian. Because of this, three Crosses of Sacrifice were erected in the Yokohama Cemetery, one in the United Kingdom section; one in the Australian section, and one in the joint Canadian-New Zealand section. Each of these was unveiled at the ceremony on the 12th June, while floral wreaths were laid in the Indian section by the Indian High Commissioner, and the CommanderinChief, Lieutenant-General Sir Horace Robertson. Originally the printed order of service had a notification on it of proposed Christian religious services to be conducted after the unveiling ceremony in certain sections of the cemetery. After mature consideration, the Commander-in-Chief, British Commonwealth Occupation Force, decided that the references to these Christian services might be wrongly construed by other sections participating in the unveiling ceremony and, rather than have the possibility of the slightest misunderstanding arising, he had the programmes reprinted without any references to these services. This, however, did not prevent the Christian denominations from still having their own religious services, if they had so desired, but they did not do so. This question was considered by the Chaplains-General of the

Australian Military Forces last week and I have their authority to state that they are not in disagreement with the action taken by Lieutenant-General Sir Horace Robertson in omitting from the printed order of service the references to the subsequent Christian services proposed to be held on this occasion. tractors.

Mr Swartz:

asked the Minister repre senting the Minister for National Development, upon notice -

  1. How many tractors have been imported from dollar areas under the International Bank dollar loan scheme?
  2. Have all deliveries under the first loan scheme been received?
  3. What were the (a) makes of tractors, (b) horse-power ratings and (c) types, i.e., diesel, kerosene or petrol?
  4. What were the allotments to the States for (a) Government distribution and (b) private distribution?
  5. Have all deliveries to the various States been completed?
Mr Casey:
Minister for External Affairs · LP

y. - The Minister for National Development has supplied the following answers . - 1 and 2. The 100,000,000 dollar loan negotiated by the Government last August has now been fully committed in that orders have been placed for goods to the value of the whole loan. Delivery of these orders will continue, however, till the end of 1952. Orders for approximately 10,000 tractors of all types have been placed. Numbers of these tractors have already been’ delivered but defence orders p laced on the main manufacturers in the United States of America have slowed down output and deliveries are a little slower than had been hoped. ‘ The Government is doing all in its power to speed up delivery of tractors.

  1. The makes of crawler tractors being imported are Caterpillar, International, Allis Chalmers, Cletrac and John Deere and range in power from 20 to150 drawbar horse-power. Special types of wheel tractors are being imported mainly in the light and heavy-powered types and some high clearance models. These wheel tractors will be used almost exclusively for agricultural purposes. The makes ordered are Allis Chalmers, Case, John Deere, International, Massey Harris, Oliver and Twin City. Most of the wheel tractors ordered are kerosenepowered but a few have diesel engines. The majority of the crawlers ordered are diesel powered. 4 and 5. The Commonwealth Government has no control over the distribution of tractors once they are in the hands of the importers, manufacturers’ agents, in each State. Government and private users alike must obtain their tractors through the agents who consequently control the final distribution. However, licenses were issued to the agents in such a way as to ensure a fair division of all tractors among the. States. Statistical records are not yet available to show how many of the tractors so far delivered have gone to each State.

Cite as: Australia, House of Representatives, Debates, 27 June 1951, viewed 22 October 2017, <http://historichansard.net/hofreps/1951/19510627_reps_20_213/>.

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