Australia's Record In New
p. 45 · Read in the full issue
Guinea
Reply to a Ministerial Statement
HERE is the same old argument in another form.
Mr. A. H. Chisholm, a well-known Australian journalist, made the statement in London that Australia had not shown praiseworthy energy in developing the resources of New Guinea —which is a fact accepted by everyone who knows the country, and its history during the last 20 years.
The attention of the Minister for Ex ternal Affairs (Mr. Hughes) was directed to the statement, and he replied: “I deny entirely that Australia has been laggard in its effort to develop the resources of New Guinea. I believe that the state ment has really been made because of
the way in which Australia has developed the resources of New Guinea, and ex posed to the world the fact that in that territory there is one of the richest gold fields in the world”.
Which is a good example of Hughesian bluster and political fatuity.
The “P.1.M.”, for perhaps the fiftieth time, repeats that Australia officially has done very little to develop the huge rich territory over which it has control; that the only notable development (in the Morobe district) has been carried out by gold-miners and gold companies: and that the rich revenues derived by the Government by taxing the gold indus try have been and are being frittered away, instead of being earmarked and used for the opening up of the country and the establishment of permanent agricultural industries and European settlement.