Thursday Island's

Wreckage

Contrast With Papua Plan

Canberra, June 27.

rE Government would be better oc cupied spending money rehabilitat ing Thursday Island than frittering it away on a £llB,OOO model village for Papuans, Mr. T. W. White said in the Australian Parliament tonight.

Thursday Island had suffered severely while occupied by the forces. Mr. White said. Of the island’s 300 buildings, only 200 remained, and they were merely shells.

Mr. White said: “These people on Thursday Island, who could live in com fort in Sydney or Melbourne if they chose, should not be forgotten now the war is over. This matter is more im portant than Mr. Ward’s model native village.

“When Mr. Ward goes up to New Guinea to see if the Papuan’s hot water service has been installed, he should call in on his way back to look at the state of Thursday Island.”

Yesterday in Parliament, the Minister for External Territories (Mr. Ward), ex plained why the Government proposed spending £llB,OOO on the model village.

“The Government was obliged in any case to rehabilitate these natives, because they were disturbed by military operations and their old village was destroyed. The Government was under an obligation to rehabilitate them, and we thought we would do the job well and give them a model village.”