Minister on Rabaul's Future

A REPORT broadcast in the Australian radio news, that the Minister for Territories. Mr. T. J. Collins, intended shortly to visit New Guinea and to personally examine the question of removing the capital from the earth quake area to a safer site (which report is referred to elsewhere in this journal) has caused annoyance to the Minister.

It appears that he made no such state ment—the report was the product of the imagination of a reporter who had asked him to say something about the New Guinea earthquake.

The Minister informed -PIM” that the future of Rabaul is not at present under the consideration of the Australian Gov ernment and that he has not yet been able to make any plan to visit Papua and New Guinea.