Industries

Bp Flashback

Gained -

And Lost

Although the operation a

shipping companies registered ii

Australia is becoming ever mor unprofitable, it is not the inten tion of Burns, Philp and Co Ltd., to further restrict shippim operations in Papua and Nev Guinea. The company’s othe

interests there—especially plan

tations and stores—must hav

sea-transport service.

TJUT in the Solomons,” said thi chairman, Mr. James Burns, s the annual meeting on May It “where the whole of our assets wen destroyed, and for which we receive: no compensation, we have not re sumed operations, other than servio ing the Territory by carrying on th shipping to render a necessary service particularly to some of our old am loyal clients.”

Then, in reminiscent mood, M' Burns went on to describe some c the early enterprises of the 78-year! 1 old company, which have contribute much to the history of Australia growth in the Southwest Pacific. Th following material is taken, verbatim from his formal address: When Moresby Was 'Ela' For nearly 80 years we have bee in Papua. In the early days then was very little development wit coconut planting, and the main ei ports on which our vessels earns freights were ivorynuts, sandalwood trocas shells, and at Port Morestt quite an extensive export business i Birds of Paradise plumes to Europ« Also, there were the winnings o alluvial gold from prospectors o: Sudest and other Islands on tW eastern end of Papua, as well a pearls from a species of small she fished in the Trobriand Islands.

Port Moresby was then called “Ela and Samarai “Dinner Island”, am Sir William Macgregor was Britis Crown Representative.

In those early days we had tvw small schooners centred at Cooktowr in Myrtle and the Ivanhoe , and j small steamer periodically to am from Thursday Island. SandalwodD was transported from Hall Sound

• Port Moresby (which was New lea at that time), and was then ped on to China, where there was ady market, iter, gold was found on the ibare River and elsewhere, which ted in an influx of miners; and 1 coastal vessels were used to port stores to their coastal camps pick up the gold which was dis- I of in Australia. nention these facts to show that missions (some of whom were lished before we went there y 80 years ago) and Burns Philp pioneers and substantially in ed in the early development of h New Guinea (Papua) from its lal state. fact, almost the same claim be made in regard to many parts of the Pacific. We have for 60 years or more to Solomons, Gilbert and Ellice 5, New Hebrides, Banks Group, i, Fanning and Washington s, Phoenix and other outlying s of the Pacific Islands; and, the first World War, to the tail Islands. eed, in some places, for many we established trading stations, led trade supplies and pro 5, and lifted any exports avail and in fact, provided the only unication with the outside

Pearl-Shell Industry

r to World War II we were f interested in the pearl-shell at Thursday Island, in Torres When the industry was worked maximum we had some 35 ig boats fitted with diving gear, vo floating schooners, employ- II crews of Japanese, Malays, Strait Islanders and New i boys (about 250 all told) and jperations were continued suc ly over a period of more than century. ever, after war was declared 9, the Government comman the whole of the pearling n Torres Strait for Army and ise in local waters and on the f Papua-New Guinea, and the >taff of our branch and pearl >erations were evacuated to n parts, and the shelling in together with our ordinary buildings, assets and opera /as compulsorily abandoned, the war, only three of our pearling vessels were handed 3 us, in neglected condition, ating substantial overhauls icral fitting out of new diving Ve had the almost impossible

task of securing experienced divers and crews to resume operations on a modest scale with our few remain ing vessels.

With no prospect of again obtain ing from Japan a proportion of our old and experienced pearl-shelling divers and crews, we have been forced to abandon all intentions of again operating the industry on any thing like a pre-war scale.

I mention all this because I re cently have seen in the newspapers that the Bowden Pearling Co., one of the largest and oldest pearl-shell fish ing companies in Torres Strait, is now winding up, and, as can be expected, this will be reflected in the extent of our Thursday Island merchandising

trade.

If a proportion of the old pre-war Japanese who were repatriated to Japan could be re-employed to train some of the labour obtained from other channels, the industry would quickly have new life, and again prove a valuable source of export of mother of-pearl shell from Australia to USA, UK and the Continent; whereas the untold benefit of these pearl-shell beds in the Torres Strait and Northern Territory is now being ex ploited by other nations, under some kind of an agreement with the Com monwealth Government.

The whole of this pearl-shell in dustry should rightly belong to and be worked by Australian interests.