Big Money Earned by Torres Strait Islanders

Torres Strait Islanders

From a Brisbane Correspondent According to the report of the Native Affairs Sub - department (Queensland) for year ended June 30, 1946, practically 700 Torres Strait Islanders were employed in the marine in dustry gathering pearl-shell and trochus shell, and of that number, about 100 were employed on boats owned by registered pearling companies.

The balance were engaged .gathering marine produce with their own boats.

Torres Strait Islanders, the report stat ed, possessed 32 pearling vessels, and that fleet, which was controlled by the De partment of Native Affairs, was the larg est individual fleet engaged in the industry in Australia.

Pearl-shell was now fetching approx imately £6OO per ton, compared with £2OO pre-war, and trochus-shell, £93 per ton, compared with £BO pre-war. With such high prices, Islanders, under their piece work system of employment, were earning three to four times more than the basic wage determined by the Queensland Gov ernment for the employment of Islanders and aboriginals with private companies.

About 40 aboriginals, apart from Is landers, were employed in privately-own ed boats. Every available able-bodied Is lander was reported to be in the armed forces during the full period of the war with Japan.

The Torres Strait pearling fleet com menced to operate on January 1, 1946. and since then, the Islanders have sold produce to the value of £66,000, represent ing 301 tons of trochus-shell and 53 tons of pearl-shell, Mrs. Rodger Brown, recently left Aust ralia for New Britain, She will rejoin her husband, the Rev. Rodger Brown of the Methodist Mission.