Hopeful

Enterprise Of Ng

SHAREHOLDERS of Enterprise of New Guinea Gold and Petroleum Develop ment NL. were told at a special meeting', on June 29, that the company’s geologists had collected information from the few Dutch, German and Australian expeditions which had actually reached the area in the Sepik district now held.

Some light had been thrown on the geological nature of the country. There were indications that the major part of the area consisted of sediments (rocks from which oil could occur) and certain portions containing large thicknesses of black shales (also possible oil source beds). These reports would have to be confirmed by the expedition now moving into the area.

It was resolved at the meeting that the £5 shares be split into 100 shares of 1/- each, Mr. R. N. Peacock, a Rabaul engineer who settled in the Terri tory after serving with the AIF dur ing the war, was in Sydney in June.

He said that Australia should look to the Territory as a partner in the national economy and develop it with that in mind. New Guinea was crying out for development by private enterprise, but too many people were going there from Aus tralia for 12 months “just for the good money.” He opposed a Com monwealth subsidy for a survey of tuna fishing off the Queensland coast “New Guinea and Solomon Islands waters have all the tuna Australia could want for a large ex port industry,” he said. “The Jap anese have a fleet there for six months of the year and apparently make good business out of it.”