Abc Radio Station

For New Guinea

From Our Own Correspondent

Canberra, June 26,

IT was disclosed here to-day, in evidence given before the Parliamentary Com mittee on Broadcasting, that the Australian Broadcasting Commission will start a service from stations in New Guinea and the Northern Territory soon.

This will cost £25,000 per year, according to Mr. R. J. Boyer, ABC chairman—little of which will be recoverable, as many of the listeners wil be natives from whom no radio receiver licence fee can be ex pected.

The New Guinea service was provided for in the Charter under which the ABC operated; but, until the outbreak of war, no broadcasting had been made from New Guinea stations. (NOTE: The ABC is seeking, for de velopmental purposes, an extra 3/- per year from each Australian listener’s licence fee of £1 per annum. At present the Commission gets 11/-, to which is added a special grant of 1/-. The Com monwealth Government takes the rest.) Commander J. Mullins, who has had much seafaring experience in Fiji waters, has prepared for the benefit of native mariners a small text-book on the use of the compass. He has, as well, gener ously surrendered certain copyright privi leges and, it is intended by the Govern ment of Fiji to have the work translated into Fijian and published. This should help to fill a need felt by native cap tains for books of instruction written in their own language and dealing with local conditions.