Legislative Assembly THURSDAY OCTOBERTenant Acts, 1948 to 1950. Order in Council under the Supreme...

Queensland

Parliamentary Debates [Hansard]

Legislative Assembly

THURSDAY, 14 OCTOBER 1954

Electronic reproduction of original hardcopy

692 Factories and Shops, &c., Bill. [ASSEMBLY.] Questions.

THURSDAY, 14 OCTOBER, 1954.

Mr. SPEAKER (Hon. J. H. Mann, Brisbane) took the chair at 11 a. m.

QUESTIONS.

TIME OF ADJOURNMENT OF PARLIAMENT ON FRIDAYS.

lUr. SP ARKES (Aubigny) asked the Premier-

" In view of the great inconvenience to country members on both sides of the House, and the detrimental effect upon the conduct of the business of the House, caused by the present uncertainty regarding the time for adjournment on Fridays, will he kindly give consideration to the institution of a sessional order which will provide for a definite time for adjournment on Friday afternoon~''

Hon. V. C. GAIR (South Brisbane) replied-

'' Certainly not as I do not think such a Sessional Order is warranted as Parliament sits on only about six or seven Fridays each Session. I eannot agree that country members are put to great inconvenience under existing arrangements nor do I think such arrangements have a detrimental effect upon the conduct of the business of the House as stated by the hon. memoor. Oonsidera tion is given to the convenience of country members and the occasions on which Parliament hag continued to sdt beyond 4.30 p.m. on Fridays during the time I have been in Parliament have been comparatively few. However, it has been noticeable for some years past that many Opposition members absent themselves on Friday afternoons. If these members elect to place their personal convenience and interests before their duty to the people as nwmbers of this Parliament the matter

Questions. [14 OcTOBER.] Questions. 693

is one for their own conscience. I feel certain that if this proposal had the support of the Leader of the Opposition he himself would have approached me on the matter. I am sure the Leader of the Opposition will concede that since I have been Premier and when previously I had acted in that capacity, any representations by him regarding the order of business, times of adjournment, etc., have received sympathetic consideration, and a very amicable relationship exiEts in this regaru. I think the matter can continue to be left in the hands of the Leader of the Opposition and myself and I regret that the hrm. member for A uLigny has seen fit to endeavour to usurp the authority and functions of his Leader.''

LEGAL EXPENSES, STATE HOUSING COM1HSSION.

lUr. llERR (Sherwood), for lUr. MORRIS (Mt. Coot-tha), asked the Secretary for Public Works and Housing-

'' Further to my questions re total legal cost_s and judgments for or against the Queensland Housing Commission and his answer thereto on 12 October-

1. Was the amount of £5,225 2s. 1d. expenses of litigation paid and is any of it recoverable by the department~

2. Were the verdicts in favour of or against the department~

3. Will he give details of damages against the department and the amounts involved in each case~''

Hon. P. J, R. HILTON (Carnarvon) replied-

'' 1. and 2. The amount of £5,225 2s. 1c1. represents substantially payments to our counsel, al·bitrator, and the umpires without any relation to any particular judgment, itward, or order for costs. See my answer given on 6 October, 1954, to the question concerning the terms of settlement regard· ing the Swedish contract.

'' 3. No damages were given against the ccnnmission. ''

BITUMEN SURFACE, ROAD LINK, ADVANCE· TOWN-NUMINBAH.

Mr. GA VEN (Southport) asked the Minister for Transport-

'' In reference to the main road from Southport to the border via Numinbah Valley, as this road is bitumen surfaced for a distance of 25 miles, leaving a missing link of only 6 miles between Advancetown and Numinbah, and as it is of great importance to tourist traffic and also as an outlet for the considerable agricultural production of the Numinbah Valley, the transport of which is interrupted in wet weather because of a lowlevel bridge, will he kindly give favourable consideration to the inclusion in the Government's programme for this year of the completion of the bitumen surfacing of the road in question and the construction of a high-level bridge over the Nerang River at Pine Crossing~''

Hon. J. E. DUGGAN (Toowoomba) replied-

'' The matter is receiving attention.''

EXTENSION OF PLAYING AREA, MUNDING· BURRA SCHOOL.

llir. AIKENS (Mundingburra) asked the Secretary for Public Instruction-

'' In view of the large increase in attendance and the erection of additional buildings in recent years at the Mundingburra School with consequent congestion of pupils in the present playing area, will he advise as to the possibility of increasing the school-ground area by embracing a portion of the adjacent Anderson Park~"

Hon. W. POWER (Baroona-Attorney-General), for Hon. G. H. DEVRIES (Gregory), replied-

'' As no request has ever been made to the Department of Public Instruction that it should embrace part of Anderson Park as a EChool playing area, the matter ha~ never been considered.''

COLLINSVILLE STATE COAL MINE DISASTER.

Mr. JESSON (Hinchinbrook), without notice, asked the Premier-

'' Is the Premier in a position to inform the House of the latest report in connection with the unfortunate tragedy in which seven miners lost their lives at the Collinsville State Coal Mine~''

Hon. V. C. GAIR (South Brisbane) replied-

'' In answer to the hon. member's question I make the following statement-

' About 7.30 p.m., Mr. T. Platt, Chief Inspector of Coal Mines, Brisbane, was informed of a serious occurrence. He immediately made contact with Collinsville and was advised that:-

1. Six men had been brought to the surface dead, apparently from asphyxiation or gas poisoning.

2. A check was proceeding of all men engaged on the afternoon shift.

3. Between 6 and 7 p.m. an alarm had been given of an inrush of gas into the workings.

4. Messrs. Winstanley, Manager, Collinsville Mine, and Mr. R. S. Speirs, Manager, Bowen Consolidated Mine, were below ground.

'Mr. Platt said that the phone was indistinct and he could not make out the name of the person speaking. He asked for Mr. Winstanley or Mr. Speirs to call him on returning to the surface.

'About 8.30 p.m. Mr. Speirs who had returned to the surface informed Mr. Platt that-

( a) Seven men were known to be dead and two others, believed to be in the clip heading, were not traced.

694 Mining Disaster at Collins1Jille [ASSEMBLY.] Supply.

(b) The air was fouled by blackdamp-GO, free nitrogen, etc.-and there was a marked deficiency of oxygen in the workings in the vicinity of the places near the dip heading.

(c) A fault had been struck in that place on the 12th instant.

(d) Mr. Speirs said that Tom Allen, Instructor to the local Rescue Brigade, and himself were going to make an attempt to find the two missing men, using Proto equipment, i.e. self-contained breathing apparatus. 'Mr. Platt advised Mr. Speirs to use ropes to prevent the possibility of further loss, and to assist in transporting the missing men.

(e) Mr. Speirs said that no assistance in the waY of rescue teams from Brisbane or Booval could help. 'The Superintendent, Mines Rescue

Station, Booval, wa,s acquainted with Mr. Speirs 's opinion.

'Mr. Platt has proceeded to Collinsville by plane and car and is of the opinion that-

(i.) Apparently an inrush or blow of gas-natural CO, free nitrogen, possibly with some H,S (hydrogen sulphide)-from a fa,ult line has followed blasting of the face.

( ii.) The inrush has been so great and of such pressure as to foul the air in several working places.

(iii.) By the aid of bra ttice and auxiliary fans the noxious gases should soon be cleared.

(iv.) Such an inrush of noxious gas would be unexpected; to Mr. Platt 's knowledge there has been no such precedent on the coa,lfield.

'Midnight.

'Mr. Winstanley a,dvised Mr. Pla.tt that all men were now accounted for and the death roll was seven; apparently the two missing, who had just been recovered, were in the previous seven. Proto apparatus was used in locating the missing two men and the air cleared by an auxiliary blower fan. Mr. Winstanley confirmed the point that a blower of gas from the faulted fa,ce was responsible.

'An inquiry will be held at the very ea,rliest possible moment.' ''

MINING DISASTER AT COLLINSVILLE STATE COAL MINE.

MOTION OF CoNDOLENCE.

Hon. V. C. GAIR, (South BrisbanePremier) (11.9 a.m.), by leave, without notice: I move-

'' That this House desires to express its deepest sympathy with the relatives and friends of the men who were killed and with those who were injured in the tragic mine disaster at Collinsville on 13 October, 1954."

Mr. NICKLIN (Landsborough-Leader of the Opposition) (11.10 a.m.): I second the motion.

Motion (Mr. Gair) agreed to, hon. members standing in silence.

PAPER-S.

The following papers were laid on the table, and ordered to be printed:-

Report of the Queensland Meat Industry Board for the year 1953-1954.

Report of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research for the year 1953-1954.

The following papers were laid on the table:-

Order in Council under the Landlord and Tenant Acts, 1948 to 1950.

Order in Council under the Supreme Court Act of 1921.

SUPPLY.

COMMITTEE-FINANCIAL STATEMENT

RESUMPTION OF DEBATE.

(The Chairman of Committees, Mr. Clark, Fi tzroy, in the chair.)

Debate resumed from 12 October (see p. 679) on Mr. Walsh 's motion-

'' That there be granted to Her Majesty, for the service of the year 1954-1955, a sum not exceeding £944 to defray the salary of the Aide-de-Camp to His Excellency the Governor.''

Mr. DAVIS (Barcoo) (11.12 a.m.): In discussing the important issue now before us, I do not find it necessary to commend the Treasurer upon the compilation of the Budget he has presented. Suffice it to say that despite the meagre purse he gets from the Federal Government he has been able to show that this Government have given service to every part of the State. I congratulate the Treasurer on the way he has distributed his funds and I commend him upon being able at least to meet some of the requirements of the whole of the people of the State, irrespective of where they may be.

I have no intention of going into all the figures set out by the Treasurer but I do note with satisfaction the amounts a,llocatecl to what I consider to be some of the important departments, the Department of Health and Home Affairs and the Department of Public Instruction.

The Department of Health and Home Affairs is in my opinion the most successful Government department. It gives the people of Queensland a service unparalleled anywhere else in the Commonwealth. Because of its Christian outlook, it has become possible for the residents of the nethermost part of this far-flung State to benefit from the services of the upper strata of our medical profession. This service is available by rail, road or air, and it is given to the indigent people of the State free of cost.

Supply. [14 0CTOBER.j Supply. 695

Every department administered _by the Government has done much to g1ve the, people of this State, indeed of the nation, great confidence in a Labour Government. From all these departments go trained officers to give their services freely, willingly and without cost to those who seek them.

I have no intention of attacking the hon. member for Mt. Coot-tlta who constantly alleges that a great deal of Socialism exists within this Government, but I do remind him that every department that gives service to the people has some element of Socialism. I was also greatly disappointed in the address delivered by the hon. member for Coorp:uoo. His was the least constructive of all the speeches we have heard. He glared across the Chamber at the Treasurer and raved about the millions he alleged the Treasurer had. He accused him of being almost like Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, despite the fact that the Treasurer, even though he had such niggardly help from the Federal Government, did do some constructive work "·ithin the State.

Hon. members opposite should realise that the first line of defence in any nation is its development, and for that reason they should give this Government their support. Hmvever, I will now devote my time to other matters of great importance to the State.

The wise budgeting by the Treasurer has given the opportunity to those people who give a service to the State without recompense, the shire councils, to do something for their people. It has been pointed out by the Treasurer and the Premier how much our shire councils have been assisted by the Government. I have as many shire councils in my electorate as any hon. member. I am rather proud of the work they have clone. I can tell hon. members why they are able to work for the people at the present time. Since the institution of the Department of Main Roads rapid progress has been made in virtually every shire of the State by the generous help given by the Government. I remember the time when the Cobb & Co. roads existed. Hon. members of the Opposition might ask what have the Government done since they assumed power in the State~ I answer that question by asking: What did the Opposition do in the interests of the State in the 50 years that they were the Government of the State~ Can they give me an answer~

lUr. Pizzey: They built the railway S~'stem of Queensbncl.

;llr. Walsh: Under the guarantee system and made the landholders pay for it.

::IIr. DA VIS: I know that progress must be slow with the construction of roads throughout the vast areas of the State. I hope to see the day "·hen we shall have '''ain l'niHls fTom \Yintou to Rockhampton and down to Brisbane. Gradually short lengths are being built. I remember the time when it took a motor-car four or five hours to go hehveen one town aml another, but toilav it is only a matter of an hour not because· the speed of the motor-car has increased to that

extent. Gradually we are getting somewhere. The small amount returned to us has not enabled us to do what we should like to have clone. We need considerably more money than we get from the present Federal Govemment who hold the purse strings. With the small amount our progress must be slow. I am proud of the work of the Government. Much progress has been made by every shire in my electorate and I should say that a similar state of affairs exists in other shires. I can tell hon. members of the Opposition why the State did not progress very much dming the 50 years they were the Government. Before this Government took over the Treasury benches the shire councils in every part of the State were controlled by great pastoral and financial concerns. There was no talk about increasing rates. On the contrary the idea. was that rates must not be increased, and as a consequence nothing was clone. Things remained as they were until this Government wisely instituted the Department of Main Roads. Our great necessity today is the construction of arterial roads between the towns to enable the people of the country who constitute its backbone to move from place to place without difficulty, particularly in wet weather.

There has been a lot of controversy about the building of the Dajarra-Camooweal rail link, and quite a deal of criticism has been directed at this State Labour Government for their failure to build it. The hon. member for Aubigny, for one, knows why the DajarraCamooweal link was never completed. He knows that when the Labour Government began to build it any number of bullocks could be bought in the Territory for 25s. a head, compared with today's price of £50. Further, at that time a drover's charge for moving cattle was ls. 9c1. a head for every 100 miles. Despite all the criticism of the Labour Government for failing to complete the link, it is beyond doubt that at that time it would have been completely uneconomic.

The only rail link that would serve a real purpose in transporting cattle from the Gulf and the Territory in times of drought to areas where they could be fattenecl would be one from Eromanga or Quilpie to Newcastle Waters. After all, the fattening area on the coast belt is very limited in size, and the coast has its bad seasons in the same way as western and north-western portions of the State.

The really tragic missing link in our railway system is the one from Blackall to Charleville. Some people say that such a line would not pay axle grease, that it would take away a lot of the traffic from the central line, and that its construction would not be good politics. From the point of view of passengers. however, a train journey from Blacknll to Brisbane at present takes two nights anc1 one and a-half cln:;-s, whereas a journey oYer the present missing link could be completed in less than a night and a day. There are members in this Chamber-for iustance, the hon. the Secretary for Public Instruction and the hon. the Secretary for Labour and Inclustrv-who hm·e seen countIes:' thousands of sheep die because of the

696 Supply. [ASSEMBLY.] Supply.

lack of a railway line between Charleville and Blackall. Is anyone optimistic enough to think that the droughts that we have had in the past will not return~ Of course they will. We shall see the same tragic losses of natural wealth that we experienced before. It is very rarely that there is an overall drought covering the south-western portion, the West, the Central West, and the :E'ar West. Between Blackall and Charleville we should have a railway, but owing to the meagre allocation of funds by the Federal Government it is little use talking of a rail link between 1Dajarra and Camooweal or Blackall and Charleville. The idea of the Treasurer Sir Arthur Fadden, about the airlifting of stock from the Territory is completely fantastic; ~t is. absolute balderdas~. There is not a chrld m a State School m Queensland who would accept a fantastic suggestion such as that. The Federal Treasurer has made no concrete approach to this Government in regard to the building of a line between Dajarra and Camooweal and Camooweal and Newcastle Waters.

Mr. Low: Are you advocating that the Commonwealth should take over the raiiways W

Mr. DA VIS: I am not. It is in the interests of the Commonwealth to help to preserve the present fundamental basis of taxation.

Mr. Pizzey: Lots of things that were fantastic 20 years ago are conmwnplace today.

Mr. D A VIS: It is almost impossible to give an answer to that. It is economic to airfreight beef only on a very short run. The line that I have suggested will to some extent bring ne:uer the supply of beef to one of the greatest fattening areas in the world, the Cooper Basin. In the m~dst o~ a desert country lies the Cooper Basm whrch i~ the greatest natural irrigation area in the world. It has that quality that puts the bloom on stock that is not found elsewhere under natural conditions in any other part of the world. I am hoping that all the trouble we have had regarding our beef distribution will be overcome. Last Friday week I led a delegation to the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock on the. matter o~ t?e establishment of an abattou at Qmlpie. Quilpie as hon. members know, is almost on the edge of the Cooper Basin, about ~00 miles from it. A company operatmg overseas and in Australia, and its general manager came up here and I discussed the matter with him. I introduced him with members of the Quilpie Shire Council and officials of the Department of Agriculture and Stock. He was quite impressed with the possibility of an abattoi_r at Quilpie. T~e importance of an abattmr at that centre rs appreciated when we realise that thousands of cattle die in drought years in that area, and that is a dead loss to the State and the Commonwealth.

Eventually they decided that it could be economic to establish an abattoir and freezing works and, if possible, rail freight the beef to the markets on the coast. I

think eventually they will establish sucL works and thus increase the tonnage of frozen beef for export overseas and for the Brisbane markets.

Of course we hear much of private enterprise-why not let private enterprise do this and that. This Government have always contended that private enterprise and Government works could exist side by side. Nobody can deny that fact. Those who a~e considering the establishment of an. abattoir at Quilpie say they cannot . establish such works without some concessiOns from the Government. The concessions may be too high. Something . th_at the Gove.rnment cannot meet but rt IS a matter for the Government. ' I am sure that if it is proved that the venture is economic and for the benefit of the State and the nation the Government will give it clue consideration.

Mr. Pizzey: Where would an abattoir at Roma draw its cattle from~

Mr DAVIS: A number of cattle come from· the Roma area but Quilpie is the greatest centre for fat cattle in Australia. Of course some of them would never .-,•Jme off the property. It would not pay to bring them off the property an_d rail the:n to Brisbane but it would be qmte economrc to can them on the spot.

The hon. member for Balonne the other day spoke of taxation. Ordinarily everyone accepts taxation because he is compelled to accept it but an imposition of taxes on the wool-growers of this State is rather tough. I use that word advisedly. Not only did the Federal Government impose 7 per cent. or H per cent. on them but they impose a further 20 per cent. by way of a wool levy on the wool-growers, who are impoverished by the fact they have to meet the provisional tax. If Sir Arthur Fadden was a tr•1e representative of the Country Party surely to God he could make representations on behalf of his party. I am not criticising only the extra taxation imposed on the ,,·oolgrowers by the Federal Government but I am pleading also on behalf. of the. wo;·kers of the nation who are demed then nghts in regard to ta.'Cation in the favourable conditions that exist now. There are men m the pastoral industry who, on paper, have returns of £40,000 or £50,000 a year;. but when you deduct the 20 per cent, the 1 per cent. and the provisional tax, 90 per cent. of them cannot meet their taxation. It was impossible for them to pay their assessments. If they cannot do this what incentive is there for the man on the land to produce more~ It is all very well for the hon. member for Sherwood. He does not have to pay any provisional ta.x. It did not affect the wholesalers or retailers. It did not even affect David Jones. He so treated David J ones that two or three days ago they were able t? un~ertake th~ greatest commercial transaction m the history of Australia. A few years ago, that company was broke. Three or four years ago the Taxation Department discovered that it Wll8

£132 000 in arrears with its taxation but beca~se it had friends in power in the

Supply. [14 OcTOBER.] Supply. 697

Commonwealth, it has now become part of one of the greatest commercial ventures in Australia.

Reverting to the question of the iniquitous taxation imposed by Sir Arthur Fadden, I remind hon. members that it affected such men as the hon. member for Aubigny and other producers in the west. These men cannot be blamed for what they did. I should have done exactly the same thing, had I been in their position. It is all right to talk about such things as loyalty so long as it does not touch one's pocket, and I frankly admit that I agree with what these men did. I refer to the fact that these men whose properties might have carried 10,000 head of cattle or from 10,000 to 15,000 head of sheep reduced their numbers by half. 'They said that to do so would be safe. They refused to take the risk any longer. They therefore decided to carry only 7,500 sheep instead of the 15,000 they carried the year before. I do not blame them for it because the policy adopted by the Commonwealth Government was certainly most stupid.

1\'Ir. Pizzey: The sheep and cattle population of Queensland has increased in the last few years.

1\'Ir. DAVIS: Only because of seasonal conditions.

I know that the Premier and all his Ministers have noted the satisfaction of hon. members opposite with the amounts allocated to this State by the Commonwealth. That satisfaction can only mean that hon. members opposite feel that their requirements have been fuliilled and they want no more. Of course, we all know that this State Governm"Emt made generous allocations to all electorates. There is little doubt that in the past they have been even more generous to hon. members opposite than they have been to hon. members on this side, but I do not wish to take anything from hon. members opposite because, after all, we should direct our every effort towards uniting not for political purposes but for the benefit of the State.

lUr. BAXTER (Norman) (11.47 a.m.): I congratulate the Treasurer upon his excellent Financial Statement. In it he has outlined faithfully the activities of the various departments for the year under review. He has also outlined the programme to be undertaken during the present year. His Financial Statement proves conclusively that despite inadequate allocations from the Loan Council this Government will continue to pursue the programme of works set out by him.

Labour's policy of subsidies to local authorities for approved capital works will go a long way towards giving amenities and better conditions to the people in the country. Further amenities are required for them. Much of Labour's success as a government has been the careful planning so charac teristic of our legislation and administration. It is indeed unfortunate for the people of this State that the Loan Council saw fit to reduce

our works programme of £30,000,000, a sum that the Federal Co-ordinator-General of Public Works deemed fair for our needs. He was satisfied that the programme would be of great value to the nation, but no, again it was decided that Queensland should get less than any other State. The railway work finaHced in 'south Australia by the Federal Government will l1e respon~ible for the expenditure of a sum virtually equal to half the monev allocated to Queensland. The Treasurer. reyealed that primary production during 1952-19,)3 ·was valued at £234,000,000, £64,000,000 higher than in the previous year. The number in employment in this State increased from 401,200 in June, 1953, to 412,000 at June, 1954, which sho·ws that the Government of Queensland are legislating in the correct manner and are looking after industries. While the State is being correctly governed there will always be full employment. More than 91,500 people are employed in secondary industries with a prO· duction value of £95,000,000, or an increase of £98,000,000 over the previous year.

The statement was made by a member of the Opposition the other day that Queensland was living under socialism, that the Government did nothing to assist private industries. The Government guaranteed loans and gave financial assistance to secondary industries in 1953-1954 to the extent of £315,000. They have allocated £2,521,830 to assist private enterprise. If that is not an indication of sound government and sound legislation for the people I should like to know what it is. Is it to be condemned under the name of Socialism~ The hon. member who has just resumed his seat told us that we had gone along quietly for many years.

li'Ir. Sparkes interjected.

Mr. BAXTER: The parrot cry of the Opposition. There is no eomparison between Socialism and Communism. It is something that exists only in the warped and contorted mind of the hon. member for Aubigny. We have introduced legislation to help secondary industry onto its feet, and by so doing we have created employment and thus given the people of this State money to spend. People who earn their money as employees are the ones who really keep industry going. It is they, the little people, who spend the money. If they did not eat food or wear clothes, the grazier and the farmer would have no market for their products.

}lr. Spa:rkes interjected.

lUr. BAXTER: That is probably the result of legislation introduced by the hon. member's party when it was in power. What happened in those days is still very vivid in the memories of the working-class people. They will never forget the belting they got from the Opposition when they wen'l in power.


Another matter that has been touched on this session is that of housing, and I congratulate the hon. members for Mt. Gravatt and Kedron on the very clear and precise manner in which they outlined the housing position in this State. It is something of which any Government could justifiably feel proud. I have no doubt that if hon. members opposite were on this side of the Chamber, they would puff out their chests at this State's housing record.

It has been alleged that Labour uoes not believe in home-ownership. That is not so. It is part and parcel of this country's manner of living that every man should have a home an<l a family, and the Queensland Housing Commission has gone a long way towards achieving the objective of a home for every family. However, it has not had the appreciation to which it is justly entitled. Anybody who has read '' Hansarcl'' must l:!ave been impressed by the very interesting facts and figures that were given by the hon. members for Mt. Gravatt and Kedron.

lUr. ]I orris: Are you complacent about the job that the Government have clone on housing~

lUr. BA.YTER: The Government have clone an exceptionally good job.

Hon. memberb opposite have condemned ~he ~emporary accommodation. However, 1t reheved a tremendous amount of hardship. I know it leaYes a lot to be desired, hut it is now passing out of existence. Temporary accommodation is condemned mainly because of certain elements that are found 'within it but those elements can he found in ever; street, every town and every State.

Mr. Aikens: Put them in a palace and they will ruin it in six months.

Mr. BAXTER: That is so.

I should like to quote an experience that I had, t? show that the Government are doing a good JOb. A woman recently interviewed me regarding accommodation. She and her husband and family had migrated to Australia ~rom . Ire~and, and her husband was placed m a JOb m North Queensland. After a time th~ job on ":hich the husband was working fimshed, and 1t was necessary for him to seek work in other fields. He came to Brisbane, got work here, and after a short time he had saved enough money to bring his wife and three children down. They sought accommodation and got a serviced room-a side verandah for a breakfast·room for £6 10s. a week. After they had bought their meals and paid rental they were left with £1 for spending money. As time went on they were getting short of clothes. The mother appealed to me after she had been to various religious bodies, some of whom sent her to places for accommodation. In each case the cost was in excess of

£6 10s. a week. I immediately got in touch with a very efficient officer of the Housing Commission, Mr. Renton. After making investigations it was found they had nothing available at the moment. Very often troubles do not come along alone, and on the Friday a section of the men at the place where he was working Y"ent on strike and he was thrown out of work. The family sought cheaper accommodation and they got one room for which they had to pay £3 10s. a week. There were no eonveniences whatever and no cooking utensils in the room, therefore the mother hacl to buy three meals a day for the family. On the Saturday night she appealed to me for something to tide her over the Sunday. I again saw Mr. Renton on the Sunday and as a result the family was placed in temporary accommodation for which they were very grateful. They started to get their little home together and then bad luck struck again. The eldest child became ill and they took her to a private medical practitioner who diagnosed a serious illness that may develop into St. Vitus' Dance. I advised her to take the child to the General Hospital. She clirl so and after a course of treatment she was cured without any cost to the parents. I state these facts in order to demonstrate how the Queensland Housing Commission's temporary accommodation has been of much Yalue to many people. Even if there was only one such case, that would be sufficient justification for the temporary housing system. 'l'hese people are now living in comfort in two or three little rooms. It is part and parcel of the system. Housing is one of the most vital problems in Australia today. I contend that Labour's practical approach to finance for home ownt>rship is very generous. I think that the fundamental needs of the people can be summed up under the following headings: first, it is the right of every Australian family to be able to acquire their own home on t('rms that will not be burdensone in relation to the family income; secondly, that the minimum deposit of 5 per cent. as was suggested by Labour brings the objective of owning their own home much closer to many thousands of Queenslanclers and Australians; thirdly, the rate of 3 per cent. interest suggested by Labour would ease the position in regard to the repayment of loans by permitting lower monthly payments and reducing the actual capital expenditure by several hundred pounds; fourthly, that the extension of the minimum period of payment to 45 years will ease the position for people on lower incomes by providing for lower payments over a longer period.

An increase in the maximum loan to £3,500 will permit of a much better standard of home, where families feel they can afford to build a larger and better home.

I now give the Committee a comparison of the housing policies put forward in the Federal campaign by the Liberal Party and Labour Party. The Liberals offered a loan


of £3,000 for 45 years at 4~ per cent. Labour offered £3,000 for 45 years at 3 per cent. What would a home-builder pay for a home

- - Deposit.

Per cent. £ Liberal .. .. . . .. 10 275 Labour .. .. . . .. 5 150

that would cost £3,000 ~ The Liberals had no human approach to the problem. These figures are very enlightening-

Loan. Value of Monthly Interest Period of Home. Payments. Rate. Payment.

£ £ £ 8. d. Per cent. Years. 2,750 3,025 12 0 0 H 45 3,000 3,150 10 10 0 3 43

Payable. Interest Paid. I Total Interest 1

1

Principal and

-L-ib_e_ra_l--------------1 3~666 I 6~91 Labour . . 2,370 5,520

Under Labour's suggestion the deposit is £125 less and the loan £250 greater, moreover the purchaser would get a house valued at £250 more, and pay £1 10s. a month les" in rent, and £1,296 less in interest. One must be reasonable and appreciate the point that the figures I use in this comparison are beyond the means of the average worker

- - Deposit.

Per cent. £ Liberal .. .. .. . . 10 200 Labour .. .. .. . . 5 100

with a family to support. I shall now give an example to show the benefit of Labour's proposal for the family which for economic Teasons is compelled to build a home costing approximately £2,000, the type built by the Queensland Housing Commission, the c·ommonwealth Bank and the War Service Homes Division.

Loan. I

Value of Monthly Interest Period of Home. Payments. Rate. Payment.

£

I £ £ 8. d. Per cent. Years.

1,800 2,000 9 0 0 4t 32 1,900 2,000 9 0 0 3 26

Total Interest Principal and ______________

1

__ P_a::...ya_b_l_e.__ Interest paid.

Liberal Labour

Labour's proposal would have meant a saving in interest of £77 4 and the total amount payable by £874.

Mr. H. B. Taylor: Are you giving the Treasurer some ideas~

~lr. BAXTER: I am not giving the Treasurer any ideas but the Opposition abused the Treasurer who has proved himself to be a very astute business man and a genius in finance. The Opposition must not lose sight of the fact that he is able to balance his budgets. Labour's proposal would mean a saving of £774 which could be money well spent on improvements to the home and would give also greater spending power during the year. However, the prospective home owner would pay £100 less in deposit, and he would have so much more left to buy furniture and home equipment. A peculiar paradox exists within our present housing system and that is, if a person is desirous of purchasing a home and he has not the required 10 per cent. deposit, he cannot buy. But on the other hand exactly the same home will be made available to any person for the value of the first week's rent. A person who has no intention whatever of buying a home can live in one such as that upon payment of the first week's rent, while another person who is anxious to own his own home but who has not got the 10 per cent. deposit is denied

£ 1,616

842

£ 3,616 2,842

that right. After all, everyone admits that the best type of citizen is the home-owner, the man who is proud of his home and his district. We must n1wer forget that we are descendants of the British race and it is part and parcel of their life to be able to say, '' This is my home, my own.'' The Englishman's home is his castle.

The other day the hon. member for Lockyer criticised the profit of £3,786,770 shown by the Railway Department.

lllr. Chalk: Did you say it was profit?

:illr. BAXTER: Yes. The hon. member for Lockyer said this profit was made by fleecing the primary producers. This profit was made because of the fact that the customers of the Railway Department realised that it was cheaper to consign goods by rail. This profit is the result of carrying goods that normally do not go by train.

~lr. Chalk: No.

:illr. BAXTER: Yes. I haNe made a check of what is going through Clapham and I know that what I say is right.

The hon. member said that the railways fleece the primary producers. Actually, they were built for the benefit of the primary producers. We all admit that the primary producer iw responsible for the wealth of


the country because the economic value of the State is only as good as the productivity of the land.

I\Ir. Spal'lies: I am glad you admit that.

. JUr. BAXTER: The Government appreciate that fact and have shown it by their treatment of the man on the land, as I shall prove by quoting some very interesting figures. For instance, primary producRrs enjoy the benefit of most lenient f•·eight concessions. They all . know what the .'.\1 table is. One item carried under that table is of extreme interest to the primary producer. It relates to manure or fertiliser and includes anything used in its manufacture. That commodity is now becoming a necessity in all farming areas.

I\Ir. Sparkes: Not all.

I\Ir. BAXTER: There might be a little virgin country somewhere and there might be some small area not quite worked out yet, but it is necessary with most of our farming lands.

The freight rates for 100 miles, 300 miles and 500 miles are 22s., 44s. 6d., and 53s. 4d. a ton respectively. Let me deal with stock fodder, barley, grain and suchlike products from the farm. The "M'' rate applies to fruit coming from the North Coast to go interstate. That rate applies to transport to the border and for the 100 300 and 500 miles it is 36s. 9d., 70s. 9d., ~nd 97s. 9d. a ton respectively.

Mr. S1mrkes: What abogt bullocks?

JUr. BAXTER: I shall give the hon. member the figures in a minute. Wool has an overall rate, and I again quote the 100-, 300-, and 500-mile distances for comparison. From Toowoomba it is 106s. 3d. a ton, Wallumbilla it is 201s. 10d., a ton and from Charleville 236s. 5d. a ton. The freight on sugar over the same distances is 21s. 10d., 50s. 7d., and 80s. 3d. respectively. The raw sugar rates over the same distances .are 36s. 5d., 64s. 7d., and 92s. 5d. I submit that those are reasonably cheap rates in comparison with the general freight rate. The Government have realised the value of the man on the land.

Mr. Nicklin: What percentage of those freights increased last year'

Mr. BAXTER: The hon. member wants to have the increases. I quoted the rates as tl1ey exist today. I am competent with this work because I did it for years. The hon. member for Aubigny spoke about bullocks, but before I answer him I want hon. members to remember the figures I have already quoted. A '' K'' wagon of cattle from Wallumbilla to Cannon Hill costs £44 3s. 6d.

Mr. Sparkes: How much a bullock?

Mr. BAXTER: I am not interested in that. The point I am making is that on general merchandise from W allumbilla to Cannon Hill the rate is £284 16s. In view of that how can hon. members say that thil Government are not doing anything to assist the primary producer' That is all rot.

And now I come to starving stock. During this year the Treasurer, who is being abused and maligned by hon. members opposite, has been responsible for starving-stock freight rebates amounting to £24,129 .

lUr. Sparkes interjected.

~Ir. BAXTER: The hon. member cannot deny the figures that I am quoting. They are authentic. For the period from 1932 to 1954, the Government paid out £326,349 for starving-stock rebates.

Restocking rebates during 1954 totalled £12,862, and since 1932, £36,552. That shows that the Labour Government are panting concessions to the primary industry so that it can prosper. That is the answer to the hon. member for L.ockyer, who says that the Government are trying to fleece the primary producers.

Rebates on fodder for starving stock in 1954 amounted to £19,604, and to £414,321 since 1932. Similarly, £753,532 has been paid out in stores-stock rebates since 1932.

And then we have the rebate on bulls for breeding purposes.

lUr. V. E. Jones: Why was it cut out?

Mr. BAXTER: What a stupid question that is. A sum of £21,882 has been paid out under that heading.

The figures that I am quoting prove conclusively that the Government are continuing to help the man on the land. We realise that it is he who produces the commodities that go to make up the wealth of any country. We have very astute people on this side of the Chamber; they realise the value of the man on the land and they look after him.

The hon. member for Lockyer said that we are short of wagons and engine-power. I should like to give hon. members the history of engine-power in the Queensland railways.

An Opposition Member: Are you satisfied with iU

Mr. BAXTER: That is beside the point. We should all like to see an improvement in our engine-power. Not one member on this side of the Chamber fails to appreciate the condition that our engines and rolling stock are in. However, despite the fact that the Government are repeatedly subjected to criticism on this matter by hon. members oposite, not one of them has come forward with concrete suggestions on how the position can be improved.

I shall go back to 1926. In those days I saw train-crews waiting at the pits to step onto engines as they came in. We had enough tradesmen then to keep the engines going. And then came the period of 1929-1932, when we went through a depression. During that time thousands of Railway Department employees were dismissed.

Down at Mayne Junction two roads were choc-a-bloc with engines requiring repairs. They were not repaired because those wl:!o had the ability to repair them were out walking the streets; they had been dismissed.

Supply. [14 OCTOBER.] Supply. 701

(Opposition interjections.) It does not matter whether it was 25 years ago or 50 years ago. The conditions that operated then are to a degree responsible for the condition of the engines today. That was the beginning of the decline in the condition of the engines. \Ve took over in 1932 and gmdually the leeway was made up, and by 1938-1939 a reasonable standard of repair had been effected. Then the war came aml the engines never stopped for sufficient time even to have the boilers attended to. Prior to the war when an engine had covered 50 000 miles it was subject to a general ov~rall inspection, and there was sufficient engines and mechanics to do it. During the war period they were engaged in pulling ammunition trains and other military work. We pounded those engines for 24 hours a day, as the hon. members for Mackay and Mundingburra could tell you. There was so much work that men were on duty for 24 hours at a stretch. It is obvious why the engines got into such a bad condition of repair. Since the war we have not been able. to make ~p the leeway completely. Durmg that penod the traffic has increased considerably and we have not been able to put the engines through the sheds at the rate that we should like.

1\'Ir. Chalk: There are engines tied up in the yards.

1\'lr. BAXTER: If there are engines tied up it is because we cannot get technicians. The Minister for Transport was criticised because he sent a man overseas to endPavour to get technicians for this State. If we cou~d get the technicians we could bring the engmes up to the state of repair that -prevailed in 1928 or 1938. There is a shortage of skilled workers throughout the world. Millions were killed during the war, thousands of whom were skilled workers. We are unable to get sufficient mechanics to carry out repairs as rapidly as is desirable. The same thing applies to rollingstock. In many instances the shortage of rollingstock is accentuated by the failure on the part of pm·sons to whom the trucks are consigned to unload them immediately; sometimes they ::re _left for two clays. (Opposition interJections.) Much of the delay is quite unnecessary. We have endeavoured to bring the railways up to an efficient standard. An ·mn,·nvemcmt in traffic has been brought about by the introduction of the diesel engine.

"~ we are able to get sufficient technicians we shall eliminate the lag in engine repairs.

lUr. Eyans: Don't you want new ones? Are they not all obsolete~

1\'Ir. BAXTER: What does the hon. m('mber mean~ Does he mean that we should close down the milways till we can effect the necessary repairs~ Does the hon. member mean we should close down the railways till we acquire sufficient skilled men or buy new engines to cover the whole of the transport SYstem? Does the hon. member mean thaU If he does, the people whom he represents, the primary producers, would suffer most. Hon. members opposite claim that

they are working in the interests of the primary producers, yet if that is what the hon. member suggests we should do, the primary producer would be unable to have

commodities transported.

I hate to think what might happen if we followed the suggestion put forward by the hon. member. There would be a repetition of the 1929-1932 period, when there was a row of buttons from vVallangarra to Cooktown and from Cooktom1 to \Vallangarra brought about by the dismissal of railway wOTkers by the Go,-ernmcnt represented by the hon. member. \V e do not want to see a repetition of that. If it happened again secondary industries and large business :firms throughout the State would be bankrupt because of lack of spending by the workers. It is the working section of the community who make the spending power. It is the family man of the working class who spends. It is actually he who keeps secondary industries and business :firms solvent. A greater number of working class people spend more money than any other class in the community. Statistics prove that. In 1951-1952 Canberra restricted the free flow of finance, restricted import duties and this \Yas followed by hundreds of dismissals. To start with 10,000 postal employees went out. One union in Queensland lost 300 members because of the restrictions on finance by the Federal Government. Fortunately for Queensland and her secondary industries, the big commercial and business firms, our Treasurer was able to draw on his surpluses and lend money to keep industry going, thus creating employment. Queensland did not feel the strain to the same extent as the States in the South; there was a strain on the shoulders of those in the South. A member of the A.E.U. was thrown out of work in Melbourne. A :fitter was aclvertisecl for by a factory in Ararat. The number who applied for that one job was 284. Applicants came from as far away as Melbourne to get that one job. They were the conditions between 1929 and 1932 and we in Queensland would have experienced something similar again but for the very capable Treasurer in charge of the finances of this State. He kept in hand a little money which he used to keep employment buoyant in this State. Queensland has had full employment over the years. Now we realise how well this State has been governed by a Labour Government.

One aspect of the Labour Government that must never be lost sight of is the humane element. I refer to the home and school for spastic children recently opened in the New Farm district by the Secretary for Health and Home Affairs. The committee of the Queensland Spastic Children's Welfare League are entitled to great commendation for the work they did. They are doing a good job, and I give them full praise for it. It is a worthy organisation. The Government also appreciate its work. In January, 1950, the League was able to purchase the residence of the late J ames Cl ark at New Farm from the Central Methodist Church. It is the centre for the spastic children. The property cost £11,000. The Government subsidised it


pound for pound and in 1950-1951 paid out £6,710 lls. 3d. The contributions for the respective years were-

£ s. d. 1951-1952 7,436 11 4 1952-1953' 15,702 12 3 1953-1954 27,136 7 6

Those excellent contributions to a vrorthy cause proYe that we do look after the peoplr> who elected us to office and depend upon us for good, sane legislation. It is estimatetl that for the year 1954-1955 our contribution will be in the vicinity of £40,000.

We can all justly feel proud of our school for spastic children. Facilities f.or occupa· tional and speech therapy are provided there. It has an electric typewriter that can be operated merely by the touch. As there is no need to strike the keys, children with certain ailments can be taught typing on this machine that operates merely by a touch of the keys. There are facilities to mt>et the requirements of all the children. TLe entrance is by carriage-way from the roadway. This allows the children to be transported by ambulance and other means to and from the institution. In the words of Dr. Harold Crawford, whom I know very well, a recognised authority on these matters, the school is equal to any in the world a11(l definitely the best in Australia. It has heating units to keep the temperature at a tolerable level in the winter-time. We appreciate all these things. The parents as well as the members of the committee have everv reason to thank the Government for a good job well done.

One aspect of the whole matter that fills me with extreme pleasure is the fact that this school was erected on the day-labour system. Alongside it a hostel was being erected by private enterprise under the contract system. As the two jobs were so dose, we had an excellent opportunity of comparing both systems and it is most gratifying to note that the day-labour system lost the contract system in efficiency and produced a job equal to if not better than any Brected in Brisbane over the last 10 years.

(Time expired.)

Mr. HEADING (Marodian) (12.47 p.m.): I regret that I missed the opportunity of speaking on the Address in Reply. I" was suffering from influenza therefore could not attend to say what I should have liked to say.

Before dealing with the Budget, I take this opportunity, on behalf of. the Royal National Association, of publicly thanking the Premier and the Secretary fm· Agriculture and Stock for their help in carrying out the recent Show and in solving some of the problems that confronted us this year. I am glad that the Royal National Association is accepted as a State-wide organisation, one in which Party politics have no part.

Mr. Walsh: Then there is a chance for Bill Edwards to get in yet~

Mr. HEADING: The Treasurer knows that there are no Party politics in our Show.

I thank the Secretary for Health and Home Affairs on the magnificent display of native art at the last Royal National Show. It was an eye-opener, particularly to interstate visitors, and my association is grateful for the help. The Secretary for Public Instruction rendered a great service in connection with the Junior Farmers' exhibit. To the Secretary for Labour and Industry I extend my thanks for the ~elp given by the Police Department. I particularly remember the courageous act of a sergeant of police when a bullock raced round the grounds. Officials of the Brisbane City Council are always willing to help, particularly in regard to health matters. We are not like the Treasurer with his millions of pounds behind him, and we are not able to do all that we should like to do. I should not like to miss the opportunity of thanking the Minister for Transport for his help in the transport of stock to and from the Show and in regard to transport generally. It can be seen Mr. Clark, that the association is a State-~ide one and it gets co-operation from everyone.

Time will not permit me to examine the Budget in great detail. I ha:ve many other things to speak about. I listened to the Treasurer when he presented his Financial Statement.

lUr. Walsh: I listened to Sir Arthur Fadden for a longer time.

Mr. HEADING: His was an excellent Budget. I might say that the Tr.easurer did not have a full attendance of h1s own party when he presented his Budget.

The Leader of the Opposition, the hon. members for Coorparoo and Sherwood, covered the budgetary position very well a~d I want particularly to refer to the econom1c position of the primary industries. Everyone who takes an intelligent interest in things is not at all pleased at the present time. The Treasurer in a Press statement or a recent broadcast referred particularly to our overseas credits and our imports. I have been watching the matter carefully for some time and I realise the Treasurer's remarks were correct. He thought that encouragement should be given to the manufacturer and the worker to hold our end up. The hon. gentleman, however, missed the primary producer. The main burden o.f our overseas credit position rests on the pnmary producer because it is on our exports that our credits are built up.

Mr. Walsh: Do you realise that the taxpayers in this country are paying 25 per cent. exchange on your exports~ ·

Mr. HEADING: I realise it and I hope the Treasurer realises that the primary producers of this State are paying duty on the imports to this country. That enables the workers to draw the high wages they are enjoying today.

JUr. Walsh: And many people object to it.

Mr. HEADING: I know the Treasurer objects to it. That is because he has not got


the sympathy that he should have for the primary producer. He gives every encouragement to the manufacturer and the wOTker, but the poor old primary producer is left out altogether. He has to battle along on his own.

The Treasurer said that we had an adverse trade balance of £22,500,000 for the month of August. That is a very serious position. He said further that a lot will depend on the price that we get for our wool. I say that a lot will depend on the price that we get for many of our primary products. Only the other day I spoke in this Chamber about cheese. The Government have not shown very much sympathy for the primary producers. On the contrary, various Government departments are continually adding to their costs.

lUr. Walsh: Were you not one of those who advocated decontrol of the price of pigmeats~

]}fr. HEADING: I was, and I intend to do everything within my power to prevent the Government again from putting their clumsy fingers on the pig industry. The worst thing that could happen to it would be the recontrol of the price of pig-meats. When the Treasurer was speaking the other day he took ls. lOd. a lb. as his base price for pig-meats, but he was out 9d. a lb. How could anyone discuss the pig industry intelligently when his base price was about 9d. a lb. lower than it should be~

ltfr. Walsh: Did you not quote the figure of 22d. a lb. in yesterday's paper~

l\fr. HEADING: That is a different story altogether. We were advancing 2s. 4d. a lb. on the bacon that we were selling at that time. We were also allowing a rebate of 3d., making a total of 2s. 7 d. a lb. That is the price at which we were buying pigs, not ls. lOd. Pig-meats do not come on to the market for at least eight weeks after the factories take delivery of the pigs. Pigs may be sold at ls. 6d. a lb. today, but the general public would not enjoy the benefit of that price for another eight or nine weeks.

l\Ir. Walsh: Would you be surprised to know that the Parliamentary refreshment room is paying 4s. 6d. a lb. for pork, whereas the producer, so you say, is getting only ls. 7d. a lb.~

Mr. HEADING: I do not know what the Parliamentary refreshment room is paying for pork. However, the price originally paid for the pigs would be nearer 2s. Hd. a lb. than ls. 7d. It is only this week that our advance has dropped to ls. 6d. a lb. If the Treasurer took an intelligent inte1·est in the industry he would know that there is no necessity for the pig producer to be exploited. If he disposes of his pigs by auction at the yards it is his own fault.

l\Ir. Walsh: What proportion of the total pig production do the factories treat~

)fr. HEADING: That does not matter. If the pig producers of Queensland want to use the co-operative factories, they are there

to be used. If they take their pigs to the yards and auction them, that is their business. I refer to the price of the pigs.

Mr. )Yalsh: What proportion of the pigs do the factories treat 1

l\lr. HEADING: We could treat all the pigs if given the opportunity. After deducting the cost of handling and selling the farmers get what is left. It is no use talking about exploitation as far as the price of pigs is concerned; because we pay ls. or ls. 6d. people should not run away with the idea that you get 100 per cent. back. Seventy per cent. of the carcass goes to bacon and ham. Thirty per cent. of it is sold under the price that is given for the pig. Y on sell the head for 9d. Because of pri<::e fixing we sell lard for ls. 4id. to ls. 5~d.

~Ir. Walsh: You sell it for that?

)lr. HEADING: In Queensland, yes, interstate, no. We sell trotters for 4d or 5d. after paying 2s. 4d. a lb. After the retailer gets the commodity it loses in shrinkage.

Our export industries are very important because they have such an important bearing on the economy of Queensland and Australia. The progress of this State depends largely on the export price for Australian primary industries. When he was opening the Queensland Grain-Growers' Sixth Annual Conference the Minister for Transport reviewed the economies of Australia in the light of latest development and population and primary and secondary industries and also said-

'' Everybody wanted a share of the eake, but it was only as big as the contributions of the Australian people could make it. Everything had to be paid for by someone some time or other. They must get back to the pioneering spirit"-

! am sorry tha.t the Minister for Transport is not here. The hon. gentleman suggested that we had to get back to the pioneering spirit. Some of us have long memories; we understand what pioneering entails. My father was a pioneer in Victoria and I have been a pioneer myself. I was wondering if it is proposed that the primary producer should get back to pioneering and put up with what he had to put up with in the past in order to give cheap food to the people. That is the point.

The Minister for Transport continued"--without which they were in for a

lean thne. ' ' I think we are in for a lean time if we look for much sympathy from some of the Ministers in this Government.

Before getting back to the days of the pioneers, it would be wonderful for the Minister for Transport and his Government to look into the growing cost of running the railways. The Minister might look at the efficiency in his own department. He has the contract of supplying transport fo:r the primary industries of Queensland and it should be done with the least possible increase ill cost to these people. An increase in cost adds to their burdens and more people woulcl leave the country to come to the cities.


The .hon. member for Norman spoke about the rmlways but I should point out to him that not only does the farmer pay the freight on the product he sends to the markets in the city but he pays the freight on everything t~at comes to the country. The farmer is lnt both ways. It is therefore right that a member for a C?untry district should appeal for. greater efficwn~y in the railways. And >vlule I am about 1t I must draw attention to the dearth of railway trucks. On my own line 183 trucks were wanted the other day for the removal of timber. The timber is piled up at the station awaiting transport. As a matter of fact there are 30 truck loads of. timber waiting for haulage to the Ipswich rmlway workshops. This timber has been lying for three months. The Minister has said, ''I remember what happened in 1929-1932 when the prices of wheat and wool -dropped.'' This is the first time I have heard a Labour politician suggest that it was not the Moore Government who created the depression. On this the Minister for Transport has said that it was the fall in the prices of our most important primary products.

llir. Burrows: We will have ·to diseipline him.

Mr. HEADING: It will be noted that it was not the Moore Government that caused the depression. We frequently hear hon. members opposite say that it was. The hon. member for Port Curtis said that the Minister for Transport would have to be disciplined. Does the Labour Party not allow for free speech in Queensland. Does the hon. member <>bject to the Minister for Transport saying what he knows to be true? However this talk about discipline is only what we ~xpect from the Labour Party. The members of the Party speak with their tongue in their cheeks. 'l'hey do not. stand in this Chamber and say what they thmk. Apparently they are dictated to by the people who control their Party.

llir. Burrows: You are getting unkind.

Mr. HEADING: I was replying to the hon. member's interjection. The primary producer cannot look for sympathy from the State Government. I should like the Premier to cast his mind back to the ti~e when we had to fight him on the pnce of butter. The Premier and the Treasurer must not forget that we want some encouragement. vVhat did the Premier do when he had the opportunity~ He endeavoured to see that we did not get the ·Cost of production for butter and we now realise just what little help we can expect to get.

And now I come to the meat position in Queensland. I attend various camp drafts and rodeos where I meet many graziers. I have spoken to many of them. Those who last year had cattle to send to the market in the winter mon~hs have virtually none this year. People With no experience in land matters think that because much rain has fallen there should be plenty of grass and that cattle should be fat. '!'he worst thing· that can happen to the grazing industry is

to have a lot of rain in the winter. The old grass, from a fattening point of view, is spoilt and the new grass will not grow because of the cold weather. Yet the Government blame these men for not sending in cattle when in fact they do not have them.

I propose to offer the Premier some advice. If we are to judge from some of his Tecent remarks, I think I have reason to feel confident that he will accept it. I know that the Moore Government were responsible for the establishment of the abattoirs. I also know the conditions undeT which they weTe established. Since then, all meat for consumption in Brisbane has been channelleil through these abattoirs with the exception of that killed by a few small men who were in operation in the city at the time of their establishment. That was all right at one time, because it enabled the abattoirs to get firmly established and supply good meat to the city, but in the meantime the control of the abattoirs has been placed in the hands of two sets of people. One group comprises those who have the right to have stock killed there and the other is the union whose members do not respect the authority of the Government at all. They walk out whenever they like. The Government have an easy means of disciplining them. All they need to do is to tell the men that they must deliver the goods to the people of Brisbane or the Government will bring meat in from outside. Then we shall have competition from outside and the employees at the abattoirs who work under wonderful conditions, might keep on woTking. These employees at the abattoirs certainly do have wonderful conditions. What is more, they are paid seaoonal rates, the same rate as is paid to seasonal workers outside whose employment lasts f.or only paTt of the year. The least we can expect from them is that they do their job. If the Government do not take the steps I suggest, they will be letting down the consumers of Brisbane because periodically they will be short of meat.

Mr. Walsh: Have you ever worked on the wharH

Mr. HEADING: If I had done, it would have been the easiest job I ever had in my life. Recently some white pigs came out from England. I went down to look at them. One man came along, looked at the crates, then another looked a:t them" then they talked about them and in all about six came along eventually. I got tired of waiting to see what they ·would do. Eventually, the pigs were unloaded.

Then we noticed that sheep were allowed to die at the abattoirs the other day. Some men did offer to kill them, and I take my hat off to them for it, but they were not allowed to do so. The organisation down there needs stirring up in the interests of not only the people but also the primary producers.

Mr. Gair: The butchers who wanted to kill the sheep had already been suspended. Do you suggest the authorities should break down their disciplinary powed


Mr. HEADING: All I said was that the men offered to kill those sheep.

lUr, Gair: They had already been suspended. Why did not the owners feed them~

lUr. HEADING: Wh~n sheep are dying, it does not matter whether the men are suspended so long as the sheep are slaughtered.

. IUr. Gair: When a man is suspended, he IS no longer an employee of the board. The owner is then responsible.

IUr. HEADING: There is still something wrong with the organisation.

lUr. ltluller: The only way out of this thing is to suspend the Government, as far as I can see.

. Mr. Gair. Or put a rat in a vat, or a cat m a vat, one of the two. That would be much easier.

ltir. HEADING: During my period in this Parliament I have often heard criticism of the Moore Government. The hon. member for Balonne said the other day that we dirl not dare to speak about the Moore Government, but I propose to refer to them todav to show that most of the remarks by hon. members opposite are untrue.

ltir. Walsh: Tell us about their deficits.

ltlr. HEADING: There is no need for me to do that because the hon. member for Rockhampton put them in '' Hansard'' the other day. The criticism of the Moore Government is the worst example of hypocrisy we have had in the political history of the State. Perhaps that is an understatement of the position. There was disagreement between the hon. members for Balonne and Rockhampton as to what loans were made by the Moore Government to the other States of Australia. One of them said that the Moore Government had reserves of £4,500,000.

:illr. Larcombe: And the Moore Government sent it to the other States by way of loans.

:illr. Nicklin: The Moo re Government did?

Mr. Burrows: Definitely.

Mr. Larcombe: Whilst there was unemployment and depression in the country.

ltlr. HEADING: I suppose, Mr. Clark, that after all those interjections hon. members opposite would be interested to know that the McCormack Labour Government had a greater number of unemployed than the Moore Government and that the McCormack Government lent £250 000 to South Australia. Hon. members opp~site have accused the Moo re Government of doing something traitorous to Queensland. On 30 June 1928 the late Mr. David Gledson-this was r'nonth~ before the Moore Government came into office-published a statement showing that the totally unemployed, including the sick, was 46,512.

Jtlr. Walsh: It included people in asylums :and gaols.

ltlr. HEADING: According to the hon. member for Rockhampton the Government had

1954-z

£4,500,000 that they had not spent, and I say again that there were more unemployed during the McOormack regime than when the Moore Government were defeated.

:illr. Walsh: That is not true.

ltlr. HEADING: The late Mr. Hanlon said that when the Moore Government went out of office there were 25,000 unemployed, a number much less than the 46,512. I know that the Treasurer does not like this but I cannot help stating the fact.

:ilir. Walsh: I will prove that you handle the truth very carelessly. Mr. Gledson 's statement included people in asylums, gaols and hospitals.

Mr. HEADING: The Treasurer is saying that the late Mr. Gledson, a Minister of the Crown, made a false statement when he said that including the sick there were 46,000-odd totally unemployed, 69,064 partly unemployed making a total of 116,176. I hope that hon. members opposite who made these wild statements about the Moore Government will retract them.

I want to tell hon. members opposite to whom the loans were made. The first one was made by the McCormack Government. His Government lent £250,000 to South Australia, and the Moore Government lent £750,000 to South Australia, £750,000 to New South Wales, £250,000 to Victoria and £100,000 to Western Australia, a total of only £1,850,000 and not £5,000,000 as stated by hon. members opposite. Hon. members opposite should not forget that while the money was on loan by the Moore Government, they received interest on it amounting to £104,769.

Why did not Mr. McCormack use any of the £5,000,000 that he had stowed away to relieve unemployment~

lUr. Walsh: I will prove what a distorter of the truth you are.

Mr. HEADING: I know that the Treasurer will make up some story to suit himself.

I say that the period between 1926 and 1929 was worse than that between 1929 and 1932. The Moore Government had to carry the result of 14 years of inefficient government by Labour. This is what Mr. McCormack had to say in his policy speech, delivered at Toowoomba on 5 April, 1929-

'' Perhaps the greatest problem facing the Governments of the Commonwealth, both State and Federal, is the one of unemployment.''

As a matter of fact, the Labour Government were defeated on the unemployment question. The unemployed in those days had no intermittent relief work. They were allowed rations only, and single unemployed men were forced to travel daily from police station to police station in order to qualify for the meagre handout they then received. That condition of affairs had been going on under Labour governments for many years.

In 1926, three years before the advent of the Moore Government, a deputation of unemployed told the Mayor of Brisbane that


there were more unemployed in Queensland than ever in its history, that they had received no sympathy from the Government that the Premier had refused to see them; and that other Ministers had told them to go to the country and carry their swags. That appears in the "Telegraph" of 11 March, 1926.

In 19 3 3 there were strikes of relief workers at Wynnum and Maryborough, and the then Labour Minister for Labour and Industry made the announcement that the wives aud families of the men would be placed on rations, less 5s. worth, representing the husband's share, and that Cabinet would later consider whether rations would be given at all. That appears in the Brisbane Press of 17 October, 1933.

Mr. Aikens: I will bet you were on clover during the depression.

Mr. HEADING: And I will bet the hon. member for Mundingburra was looking after himself.

After the money that was loaned by the Moore Government to the other States had earned i~terest amounting to £104,769, it was repmd 17 months before the Moore Government went out of office. The Moore Governme~t did not. spend that money, because It was decided at a Premiers' Conference that money then held by the States should not be spent. Rather than allow the money to lie idle, the Moore Government loaned it to other States aud got interest on it. As I have said, it was repaid 17 months before the end of their term of office. We have only the McCormack Labour Government to blame for all the unemployment that existed at that time, and for the fact that men had to walk from one police station to another to get rations.

Mr. Walsh: The Moore Government took the workers away from the Industrial Court so that they could be employed for £1 a week and tucker.

Mr. HEADING: I am very glad that the Treasurer reminded me of that.

Government Members interjected.

The CHAIRMAN: Order! I ask the hon. members to cease interrupting the hon. member for Marodian. Interjections are all right, but interruptions are out of order.

Mr. HEADING: When the Moore Government were defeated Queensland had the lowest unemployment and the highest basic wage of any State in Australia. Let hon. members opposite put that in their pipes and smoke it.

Mr. Walsh: 22 per cent. unemployed.

Mr. HEADING: And Labour had 29.5 per cent.

}Ir. Walsh: You produce the record.

Mr. HEADING: I have the figures here. Mr. Walsh: Produce the official record.

Mr. HEADING: When a Labour Govern-ment were returned, what did they do for the

unemployed~ In 1933 they opposed any increase in the basic wage, which remained at £3 14s. for four and three-quarter years after their return to power.

Mr. Walsh: That was to enable us to get out of the unholy mess made by the Moore Government. Barnes and Moore were going to commit the Government to a further 10 per cent. reduction.

lU:r. HEADING: The hon. gentleman forgets that we had 14 years of Labour government to clean up when we got into power. Under Section 82 of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Acts the Government debarred the court from granting any increase to Queensland public servants.

Mr. Walsh: The Moore Government put that in.

Mr. HEADING: The hon. gentleman poses as a lily-white. Mr. Muhldorff, in the annual report of the Queensland State Service Union, on 29 January, 1938, said that Queensland public servants were the only Crown employees in the world who had not had their salary reductions imposed by legislation restored to them, and that Crown employees in Queensland were not proud of the record forced on them by their employers.

Mr. Walsh: Having said all that, the electors have returned this Government for 20 years since.

Mr. HEADING: Because the Government manipulated the boundaries of the electorates.

Mr. Walsh: You were defeated on your own boundaries.

Mr. HEADING: Labour did not get a majority vote in Queensland until the last election. Mr. Muhldorff, who condemned the Government, is now a member of the Queensland Central Executive.

When speaking on the air the other day the Treasurer had something to say about a section of people whom he termed the '' squattocracy. '' It was a sneering term to use. He accused these people of bringing pressure on the Commonwealth Government to get their own people exempt from military training. There are many graziers in my electorate. They are a section of people who came to the assistance of this country during the war to as great an extent as any other.

Opposition }!embers: Hear, hear!

Mr. HEADING: Many men on the land were prevented from going to the last war. I was in charge of the 20th Battalion of the V.D.C.

lUr. Walsh: The Menzies Government went to the country on the promise of universal training for all youths.

lUr. HEADING: One of the essentials in connection with the military position in any country is to have facility of movement. What may be suitable today may not be suitable tomorrow. Laymen like the

Supply. [14 OCTOBER.) Supply. 707

Treasurer are not conversant with the military potential, yet he has the temerity to criticise the actions of the Commonwealth Government.

Mr. Walsh: You supported it in 1949.

Mr. HEADING: I support compulsory military training for everybody; but I have sense enough to know that conditions can change. The hon. gentleman knows from the history of the Commonwealth that conditions change.

Mr. Walsh: It was a Labour Government who brought in the Defence Act for universal training.

Itir. HEADING: Your party opposed it for years. The hon. gentleman must know that there was a period when people on the land were not trained because of their distance from a training centre. I know this because I was one of such men. When I went to the war I was totally untrained. unfortunately, I had not the opportunity of undergoing training because of the distance I was from the training centre. However, that did not stop my going to the war and I know it will not stop any such young men today. The hon. gentleman must also remember that during the last war many young men on the land who wanted to go to the war were not allowed to go. Their services were wanted in the primary industries. Notwithstanding all this the Labour Government now condemn the Commomvealth Government.

Mr. Walsh: No. They are condemned by the hon. members for Chermside and Mt. Coot·tha.

Itir. HEADING: No. He is condemning the Commonwealth Government for not allocating money that will probably be wasted. He is condemning them for not taking these men away from the primary industries but you must remember one of the roles of Australia in the defence of this country is to provide food for the fighting forces. If the country is denuded of the services of these young fellows Australia cannot provide the foodstuffs in the event of war. On behalf of the graziers I resent the hon. member's charges. He has accused them of using influence to keep their own people out of national service training.

Mr. Walsh: I can tell you the name of a prominent Country Party politician whose so;n got on the train and was brought back.

Itlr. HEADING: The hon. gentleman condemns the Commonwealth Government.

Let me give the Committee the Labour Party's attitude towards defence. In 1929 the Scullin Labour Government abolished compulsory military training. On 2 November, 1938, Mr. Curtin said, ''I say that any increase in defence expenditure after the Munich Pact, so far as Australia is concerned, appears to me to be an utterly unjustifiable and hysterical piece of propaganda.'' That is to be found at page 1095 of Federal '' Hansard'' of that year. In "Hansard," page 1195 of 16 November,

1939, we find Labour opposing the Empire Air Training Scheme. On 6 September, 1939, after war was declared Mr. Curtin stated Labour's policy as, ''No compulsory military training; no Australian Expeditionary Force, No National Government." In October, 1941, less than two months before Pearl Harbour, the Curtin Government reduced the period of compulsory military training from six to three months. The late Mr. Chifiey, at the Australian Labour Party Convention at Canberra on 2 March, 1951, said-

'' After having weighed all the aspects, I think that compulsory military training is economically unsound. ·with a nation of 8 million people, the future of Australia 10, 20, or 50 years ahead will depend not on its fighting forces, but whether it can people it in that time so that it will not be a temptation to other countries. Anyway, Australia could not be defended against the masses of Asia.''

In 1950-1951 the Labour Party totally opposed the National Service Bill and prevented its passage for over three months. On 2 March, 1951, an outside Labour Executive meeting decided by 19 to 17 that the party must allow the passage of the Bill because of the danger of a double dissolution on that issue. That is to be found in "The Courier-Mail" of 4 March, 1951. And again "The Courier-Mail" of 17 May, 1954, reported Senator McKenna, Brisbane, during the last Federal election campaign as saying-

'' Annual expenditure on social services would not be met from Loan Funds or fresh issues of Central Bank credit. . . . Labour would provide balanced development of adequate armed forces but a big portion of present expenditure could be used for developmental purposes.''

The financing of Labour's programme obviously depended largely, "upon a big cut in defence expenditure.'' The Premier in the ''As I see it'' column on 13 October, 1954, criticised any restriction of compulsory military training, despite the huge increases in expenditure in other directions, particularly the Air Force, including £10,000,000 on aerodromes in Queensland and on the expensive Woomera experiment. We have the Premier protesting against the Commonwealth Government for changing their tactics to meet the exigencies of the changing conditions. I suggest that we take heed of the happenings to the north of Australia.

I suggest to the Treasurer that he make more money available for the building of houses for country school teachers. Many houses have been built in the cities and towns, and I fail to understand how it is not possible to build a few for country school teachers. The Government complain that they are not able to get teachers but while they neglect to provide homes for them, they cannot hope to attract them to the service. The houses should be built, and at thg earliest possible moment.

The other day, the hon. member for Haughton violently attacked Sir Arthur Fadden, and even took his country from him, while


the hon. member for East Toowoomba sneered "New Australians." What is wrong with New Australians~ They are making fine citizens, and we need more of them.

Sir Arthur Fa.dden is one of the best Treasurers we have ever had. He has piloted Australia through very trying times and the people of Queensland appreciate his efforts. When he introduced legislation to do the very thing that hon. members on the Government side now advocate-the restTiction of imports-he was criticised from one end of Australia to the other, yet he had the guts to carry on. Today he is being belted from pillar to post by self-seeking people in the country. In my opinion and in the opinion of many other Australians, he has come through with flying colours.

The Treasurer says he is not able to get a fair deal when he goes to Canberra. If that is so, why not send somebody else who can do something for Queensland~

lUr. Walsh: It is a poor lookout when you have a Quecnslander in the Federal Cabinet and he is not helping you.

lUr. HEADING: He has given this Treasurer more money than he can spend. Why, I remember our Treasurer writing a letter to our shire council asking it to spend as much as it could before 30 June. There was money to burn towards the end of the year whereas earlier in the year almost every letter in reply to our request for help contained the words-

'' Owing to the shortage of funds due to the action of the Commonwealth Government .... "

~lr. Walsll: I will deal with your local authorities in my reply.

liir. HEADING: I hope the hon. gentleman does.

(Time expired.)

~lr. ROBINSON (Sandgate) (3.2 p.m.): At the outset, I congratulate the Treasurer on his Financial Statement. It is gratifying to know that the Government have ended the year with a surplus. Hon. members opposite criticise the fact that we have a surplus and that we have also been able to put money aside for a rainy day. The hon. member for Marodian referred to the surplus left by the McCormack Government. I remind him that at that time this State had cash balances amounting to £4,500,000. The Moore Government lent some of it to other States and at the same time neglected to do the work required in this State, giving lack of money as the excuse.

He spoke a good deal about what the Moore Government ilid and there is no neei! for me to refresh my memory by notes on it. I was a guard in the employ of the Railway Department, working very close to his electorate. During those yPars I can safely say that it was the worst time the workers of Queensland had ever experienced. We read of 1890, 1891, and 1893, the time of the paRtoral disputes, when men blackened by pastoralists had no chance of getting a job. By their

bad management and stand-over tactics the pastoralists did one good thing for the ·workers of Queensland. They were responsible for the birth of the Labour Party. That party was born in those early days when its members fmm(l it was not possible to get true representation in the government of the State unless· they had their own representatives at the seat of government. It 1vas decided to send Labour representatives to Parliament. The Moore Government were responsible for bringing a superannuation scheme into the Raihvay Department. The railway-men themselYes voted against it, but the Gon•rmuent of the dav used it as a means of putting off men at ·the age of 60 on a couple of pounds a week.

lUr. Kerr: Don't you believe in railway superannuation schemes~

lUr. ROBINSON: Not under such conditions. The railway-men threw the Government out when they had the opportunity. I repeat that that Government got rid of men over 60 years. I was working at Kingaroy at the time and the Government reduced the train service to that centre by two days n week. 'l'he shops at Ipswich were full of engines and wagons and they were at every siding because there was no work to be done, but under a Labour Government today the railways cannot cope with the work. 'vVe remember what the Railway Department did during the days of the war. Anybody who remembers what they did from 1941 onwards after the Japanese came into the war should not sneer at rnihvay-men. They did a joh second to none. Everyone knows that.

llir. Nicllolson: At the time of the Moore Government the whole world was in the same position.

lUr.. ROBINS ON: We we·re the last to go into the deprPssion nnd the first to come out. I know the conditions of work in those harr1 times. The Moore Government were the greatest piece of propaganda the J_,abour Partv ever had. When Mr. Godfrey Morgan was ·Minister for Railways he threatened the railwny-men in every possible way. A scheme was introduced whereby every engineman or guard who permitted an unemployed person to traYel on the train was fined 10s. I was fined this amount and it appears on my rec.ord. They forced men to travel for their rations and I say that if anything bred Communism it was the conditions in those times under the Moore Government. There is this serious aspect to remember: The railw::tys today are still suffering for want of. train-men. When the rai1vays were at their peak during the war the maladministration of the Moore Government manifested itself beenuse thnt Government failed to provide lad porters, clerks, and apprentices during their years of Government.

With the outbrC'::tk of. war in the Pacific the Queensland railways had to do a huge job, and men who knew absolutely nothing about railway work had to be brought off the streets to do railway work. Inespective of. whether a railway man is skilled or unskilled, I think everyone will admit that


experience cotmts for a lot in railwAy work. The lad who ,joins the service at 15 or 16 years of age and serves :five or six years as a lad porter or a junior clerk must at the end of that time have obtained invaluable experience in railway work. The Moore Government did not reemit any junior employees, 1vith the result that today the Railway Department is suffering from a grave shortage of experienced men.

I am very pleased that the Government are pushing on with the quadruplication of the suburban railways. Suburban rail traffic has reached saturation point, and the existing double li~e cannot carry the traffic. Qnadrnplication will mean that more express trains can ue run and workers will be taken to and from their places of employment much faster than at present. Further, in the event of a breakdown there will be two extra. lines to carry the traffic. If a breakdown occurs at present and there is a blockage of both lines in the suburban area, motor transport has to be used at considerable expense.

Another thing I am very pleased about is the straightening of the curve and the raising of the line between Toombul and Ea.gle Junction. At present trains coming from the North Coast have to reduce their loads by 30 tons at Zillmere, and in the peak periQds trains are held up at that station. 'rhat means the payment of considerable overtime. 'l'he straightening of the curve and the raising of the line will save the payment of u good deal of overtime and will avoid a lot of congestion at Zillmere.

I thank the Minister for Transport for the work that has been done by the Railway Department in the Sandgate electorate. The platform at Nudgee, the last one on the line to be raised, is now being raised. In the case of Boondall, the revenue has increased fourfold since the platform was raised.

The introduction of diesel engines has been a great advance. Before they were introduced to the railway service, there was always a lot of trouble in shifting the wheat crop from the Darling Downs. During the last season, however, diesel engines shifted the entire crop so expeditiously that the shipping at Pinkenba could not handle it. The speed of the diesels halves the running time between Brisbane and Toowoomba. They can maintain a. high average speed, they accelerate quickly, and they arc doing an excellent job. The small amount of trouble they caused when they were :first introduced is quickly declining as the men become used to them.

The hon. member for Lockyer referred to the number of engines that were out of commission. His :figures may have been concct to a certain extent, but when an engine is booked f,or repairs it does not necessarily mean that it must go into the workshops immediately. There were a number of Bnndaberg and Toowoomba engines running on the Sandgate line for perhaps a fortnight on passenger traffic and then they are put onto goods traffic for another fort-

night and then sent to the shops.. Whe~ the hon. member for Lockyer menhoned 2o per cont. I thought he might huve ulso taken into account ''Puffing Billy,'' one of the :first engines constructed.

Mr. Low: What was the cause of the derailment at Sandgate last night~

lUr. ROBINSON: Splitting the points. They were interlocked points. It was no fault of any workman. These things will happen just as something will go wrong with a motor engine.

We have heard much criticism of the housing project at Zillmere. My predecessor launched an attack on that housing settlement and the outcome was a police inquiry. All I can say is that I wish ":e had many more houses at Zillmere. In my areu and in all the areas in proximity to the city there is a great shortage of houses. I know of many cases of married couples with a child living in two rooms and sharing a kitchen. It is almost impossible to get a house for these people at the present time. As fast as they can build houses at Zillmere we can :fill them. There is no ground for complaint so far as the Zillmere project is concerned. It has been a boon to the people without homes. In my area where industries such as Olympic Tyres, Cyclone, and MasseyHanis are operating there is a great scarcity of houses. It is only in the outer suburbs that there are areas that can be nsed for building, and the city population is gradually going out. I ask the Minister to see if something cannot be done to build more houses in my area to meet the tremendous demand. In regurd to most of the applications I receive for rental houses, the No. 1 preference of the applicants is Zillmere. During the last Federal election campaign Mr. Bruce Wight held two meetings at the housing settlement and got a rough reception. The voting was 7 to 2 in favour of the Labour candidate.

A new school was built at Geebung, but before its completion the population had increased to such an extent that four extra rooms were necessary. The Zillmere School was built for about 80 pupils. Two years ago the attendance was just over 100 and today the attendance is just under 800. Every school in my area with the exception of Shorncliffe has had to be enlarged. The Sandgate School has an attendance of about 1 000 pupils and extra accommodation has h~d to be provided. The sume applies to Boondall, Brighton, Zillmere, and Geebung schools.

I regret that the hon. member for Mundingburra is not present, because I wish to make reference to the abundant evidence of the good work curried out in his areu by Labour Governments. I was fortunate to be able to travel with the Secretary for Health and Home Affairs when he visited the North to inspect hospitals, :fire brigades, and ambulance centres. Prior to that I had not travelled further than Townsville. I expected to see a backward place, but I found that places like Cairns, Gordonvale, Babindn,

710 Supply. [ASSEMBLY] Supply.

Innisfail, Tully and Mossman had up-to-date hospitals. These hospitals are a credit to any Government.

Mr. Cobnrn: What about Bowen?

Mr. ROBINS ON: I did not get off the train at Bowen. I am speaking of those institutions that I actually saw. So far as hospitalisation is concerned the people of the northern centres are better off than those in the city of Brisbane. The Brisbane General Hospital is the biggest hospital in the State. The large auxiliary hospital is under construction in South Brisbane. But we must not overlook the fact that patient_s from as far as Caboolture come to the General Hospital in Brisbane whereas in the northern settled areas patients are only a few miles from a hospital.

I was also struck with the number of miles of bitumen roads in the Cairns district. In fact, I was somewhat surprised at the milage and in future the remarks of the hon. member for Mundingburra as to the neglect of the North by the State Government will be taken by me with a grain of, salt.

To refer again to hospitals, it must be agreed that Queensland has the best hospital scheme and the only free hospitalisation scheme in Australia. A number of the beds in the Brisbane General Hospital are occupied by people from the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales. In former days I had much to do with the contributory hospital system. As soon as a person entered a hospital he was put through a sort of thir<l degree to ascertain how much he could afford to pay for his hospital treatment. Today, Queensland is the only State in Australia in which a sick person can get into a hospital bed absolutely free of charge. Diagnosis and medical attention are also free. Ailing persons can consult the best specialists in Queensland. On several occasions I have been in the Brisbane General Hospital and found the medical attention and treatment equal to the best.

I congratulate the Minister in charge of the Department of Health and Home Affairs on his work and the work of his department which controls free prenatal clinics, and child welfare centres. Young expectant mothers can attend these prenatal clinics and receive the best of advice. The decrease in the infant mortality rate is a clear indication of their success. One never hears now of the number of deaths of new-born children that one heard in the days when I was a lad. In those days midwives usually attended childbirths. Probably all babies in the bush came into this world without the assistance of a doctor in those days, but today 98 per cent. of childbirths are supervised by medical practitioners. Expectant women attending Queensland's maternity hospitals receive all the attention required. All this work is free because of the achievements of the Queensland Labour Government in their hospital policy. Our hospital scheme stands second to none.

Hospitals are also of great assistance to industry. A sick worker entering hospital for

treatment has not the worry of having to meet a big account for his treatment. This helps in his recovery. Neither does he have the anxiety of having to find several pounds to consult a specialist. These services are available to him at · the Brisbane Hospital and at the country hospitals. In the event of his requiring special consultation or treatment he can get free transport to the Brisbane Hospital on application to the Department of Health and Home Affairs.

Hon. members opposite must realise that by restoring people to health and returning them to industry quickly our hospitals are doing much to preserve the assets of industry. Although such instrumentalities as our hospitals and schools do not return profit in the form of money, they are of extreme benefit to the State in that they do much for the health and welfare of our people. Money without health is of no value whatever while a healthy person is an asset to industry and the nation.

Recently I read in the Press a complaint by Dr. Earle Page that the Queensland people are slow in taking advantage of the Commonwealth's Medical Benefits Scheme. I was also interested in the reply by our Secretary for Health and Home Affairs in which he stated that as hospitalisation in Queensland is free there is no need to join the Commonwealth scheme. Dr. Ear le Page's complaint is conclusive proof tha~ the peofle of this State are well satisfied with Queensland's hospital scheme. In this State they receive the best medical treatment at no cost whatsoever.

Again, the people of Queensland have demonstrated in no uncertain manner that they are more than satisfied with Labour.'s administration of the affairs of the State m that at the last election they returned to this Parliament a greater number of Labour representatives than we have ever seen in this Chamber before.

lUr. COOPER (Keppel) (3.31 p.m.) : I congratulate the Treasurer on the very sound Financial Statement he has presented to this Parliament. It faithfully sets out the activities of the various departments for the period under review and clearly indicates what is envisaged for the coming year. The fact that the Budget reveals a surplus of £342,934, the largest surplus on record, is conclusive proof that the Labour Government's policy has been based on careful planning and, as it were, a great blueprint designed to develop equally every region of the State while giving the best possible results to the whole of the people. The fact that this is only one of several successive surpluses is proof that the Government's policy is sound, that the Government have regard for the people's interests in that they have prepared a planned programme of works without any reduction in staff or interruption to trade and commerce. After all, that is the real test of good government.

The Treasurer's Statement reveals that despite inadequate allocations of money from the Loan Council, this Government was

Supply. [14 OcTOBER.] Supply. 7ll

able to continue with its programme of works and development by utilising reserves that were built up in the Trust and Special Funds. It also discloses that for the current year the Government have prepared a well-balanced programme of developmental work that will not only be of great benefit to the State, but will also be a great contribution to our national economy.

Hon. members opposite have accused the Treasurer of devoting much of the Financial Statement to an attack on the Federal Government's unfair treatment of this State. The Leader of the Opposition compared the last year of a Labour Federal Government's term of office with 1953-1954 under the present Commonwealth regime and endeavoured to show that because the figure under the present Government has grown astronomically the Menzies-Fadden Government has been more generous to Queensland than any previous Federal Government. In doing so, he very carefully refrained from making any reference whatever to the fact that the basic wage had almost doubled itself in that time and that the Commonwealth Government was collecting enormously more by way of taxation-to which Queensland taxpayers were paying their share-than any previous government. I submit that a fair comparison is to take the Income Tax Reimbursement Grant for the year 1953-1954, which was £19,278,457, and the special Commonwealth Grant for revenue purposes, which was £3,438,356, making a total grant of £22,716,813, or an increase over the previous year of £1,005,245. The comparison to be made is that this figure represents 15.95 per cent. of the total grant I have referred to made available to all States compared with 16.99 per cent. received by Queensland from the .original Tax Reimbursement Grant during the years 1942-1946. Evidence of the soundness of the poliey pursued by this Government can also be found in the fact that the public debt to this State is the equivalent of £170 19s. lld. a head of population. This figure is the second lowest for any State of the Commonwealth. Again, to make a comparison, I propose to quote the per capita table as set out in the Treasurer's Statement showing Tasmania the highest at £307 6s., South Australia £276 . 2s. 9d., Western Australia £257 17s. 4d., New South Wales £176 5s. 10d., Queensland £170 19s. lld., and Victoria £154 Ss. 3d.

We did not hear any comment from the hon. member for Coorparoo, the Leader of the Opposition, or in fact from any other hon. member opposite on that achievement; rather did they endeavour to falsify the position by attempting to create the impression that we are a socialist government and incapable of adopting a sound policy of finance and administration. The Treasurer pointed out that at the 1953 Loan Council meeting the Commonwealth Treasurer indicated that the Commonwealth Government would be prepared to contribute towards the financing of a total programme of £200,000,000. He rightly emphasised that despite the fact that the Loan Council by a

majority decision adopted a borrowing programme of £231,000,000 it was limited to £200,000,000 by the decision of the Commonwealth not to finance any amount above that figure. Claims have been made in this Chamber and elsewhere by members of the Government and such claims have been borne out during this debate by the hon. member for Rockhampton and the hon. member for Coorparoo when speaking at a Liberal Party convention, that this State has been treated unfairly by the Commonwealth Government when compared with the treatment given to other States. Surely no-one is prepared to say that Commonwealth work such as the Snowy River project, the Stirling-Brachina-Leigh Creek-Marree railway or the Tasmanian aluminium industry are not works of national character and as such are essential to the national economy. That being so, have we, on this side of the Chamber, no right to demand that work of equal national importance such as. the Burdekin River scheme or the DaJarraCamooweal rail link, should similarly be undertaken or assisted on some basis by the Commonwealth Government~ We were elected on a specific mandate to develop the State and every time we fail to draw attention to this unfair position and make no attempt to rectify it we fail in our duty .. Not only have we received unfair treatment in comparison with the other States, but we are being penalised because Queensland taxpayers have contributed their percentage of taxation which went towards the underwriting of loans which were in some instances under-subscribed and which were used interest-free by the Commonwealth Government for work in other States. At the same time, Queensland is charged int~rest on that portion that has been underwntten and that has found its way into our portion of loan funds. Despite that, we still find the Opposition doing the ostrich act, burying their heads in the sand and blindly supporting the Federal Government in their betrayal of the people of this State.

In order that the people of Queensland may fairly judge for themselves just how they have been treated in this matter, we must examine the statement of the Commonwealth Co-ordinator-General of Public Works at the Loan Council meeting that was he~d on 29 and 30 June, 1954. These are his words-

" It is of interest also to consider the programme in the light of cost increases over recent years, and for this purpose I have made a comparison of the governmental programme submitted for the current year with that approved for 1950-1951. In 1950-1951 the approved governmental programme amounted to £174,279,000, and the present governmental progranu:1e of £258.344 000 therefore represents an mcrease of appro~imately 49 per cent. over ~he fou:·year period in question. Durmg thiS period cost increases have been to the order of 45 per cent., which would indicate that the governmental prog;ammes no1~ submitted are r.omparable w1th those . of four years ago.''


'fhat would indicate that Queensland's loanborrow!ng programme was a very realistic one, w1th no unnecessary padding. It also bears out the claim that has been made hy the Premier at successive Loan Council meetings that Queensland would undertake and carry out a works programme in line with that submitted. However, history has again recorded that the Commonwealth Government, by exercising its two votes and the casting vote of the chairman succeeded in determining the borrowing programme for the cmrent year at £200,000,000. In other words, they have restricted the States' loan programmes by £58,344,000.

Let us examine the amount received this year under the Commonwealth-State housing scheme grant and compare it with the amount received in the previous vear. In 1953-1954 this State's total progranl:me was £18 450 000 tor works and £4,500,000 for housing,' a t~tal of £22,950,000, compared with this year's programme of £19,974,000 for works and £2,000,000 for housing. \Vill any hon. member opposite say there is a need. to curb the spending of money on the erection of homes for the people of this State~

lUr. Kicklin: We do not say ''curb it," 've say "spend it"·

lUr. COOPER: On this occasion it is the Commonwealth Government who have embed it.

When the Commonwealth-State housing agreement was introduced in 1946 there was a full realisation that the States could not possibly find the large amount of finance necessary to build thousands of homes for ex-servi~e men and women and for people who had been engaged in war industries. The then Prime Minister of Australia, the late Ben Chifley, approached this question in the fair, humane and statesmanlike manner with w~ich he applied himself to all questions of th1s nature. He said in effect to the conference of Housing Ministers at the time ' 'Go back to your States and build home~ for your people, and the Commonwealth will find the finance.'' There was no suggestion of any limitation of finance for the purpose. All I can say is that the present Commonwealth Government are not honouring the spirit of that agreement. They have reduced the housing vote from £4,500,000 in 1953-1954 ~o £2,000,000 this year. Hon. members oppos1te say they have the interests of the people of this State at heart yet they never fail to rise in their places 'and defend the Federal Government's unfair attitude on this very important question.

_There are still thousands of people in tlns State who need homes of their own and the qur''tion of providing finance for 'them is a national one. There should be no restriction wha tevcr in this regard.

Provision is made in the Estimates for 1954-1955 for a total expenditure of £7,256,500, which will include £1,465,000 for advances to borrowers and purchasers under the State Acts, and £4,852,000 for expenditure under the Commonwealth-State housing agreement. The hon. member for Kedron

outlined to this House the reason why the estimate was underspent last year. It was because the firm of French contractors repudiated their contract that home construction in the metropolitan area fell on the day labour gang which had done a very good job, as a result of which costs had been kept lower than the contract price, and the standard of workmanship remained high. Because of that event the total number of homes constructed for the year was lower than the estimate, and did not reflect the same steady increase that has taken place progressively in this State since 1946. The provision of £7 million for housing this year should indicate to members opposite the need for the Treasurer to husband his finances carefully and to build up reserves when this could be done prudently, in order to make provision for a continuation of such vital work as the Housing of our people. The allocation of £2,000,000 by the Loan Council as this State's quota under the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement falls a long way short of the estimated expenditure of £7,256,000 provided for in the Budget, and shows what would have happened had there been no reserve fund. It is clear this is what the Opposition would like; it would b8 in line with their bankrupt policy of 1932. The fact that this Government have had 15 surpluses within the last 16 years, and can provide a works programme absorbing all the available manpower and materials and at the same time build up a prudent reserve fund against such injustices as those meted out by the Commonwealth Government is something they do not like. It is understandable that they are very disappointed and bitter and can see no hope in the future as far as their prospects and policies are concerned. Section 1 of the State Housing Agreement provides that the Commonwealth will advance to each State an amount of money that shall be required for carrying out the State's housing project under this agreement. There is no suggestion in the agreement for any option on the part of the Commonwealth. Rather is the position one of compulsion. But the Federal Government airily and lightheartedly repudiated this solemn condition of compulsion, and having done so proceeded arbitrarily to allot certain sums of moneys to the States.

The analysis submitted in this Chamber recently by the hon. member for Mt. Gravatt shows how badly Queensland fared again in relation to the other States. The fact that the Commonwealth Government have not honoured the spirit of this agreement affects the period of time necessary for the complete elimination of temporary housing camps in this State: but even worse than this, will determine just how soon drainage and sewerage works will be undertaken and completed in these housing areas. In my own area many homes have been erected, but no comprehensive scheme for drainage has been undertaken; and in monsoonal seasons much discomfort is experienced by housewives for months at a time because of water lying on allotments and in some cases under houses, thereby providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes and generally constituting a real

Supply. [14 OcTOBER.] Supply. 71:1

health hazard. The provision of sewerage in these areas is almost a ''must'' in our modern age, and I urge close collaboration between the Queensland Housing Commission and the local authority concerned in all future projects in order to complete the bitumen surfacing of streets, drainage and sewerage in all Housing Commission areas. This, in my opinion, is the only positive method of approach towards tackling this problem in earnest, because if not undertaken in this manner, every fresh housing estate completed will add up the milage of bitumen street construction, drainage and sewerage, still to be undertaken. In my electorate the Queensland Housing Commission has an estate of some 63 building allotments, which is one of the finest building sites in the Central District. I urge that special consideration be given to this area by the Commission and the Rockhampton City Council in order to undertake and complete the wo~ks that I have mentioned simultaneously. If this is not done, not only will this fine estate have a half-finished appearance, but discomfort and health hazards will be created in the manner I have outlined. I am very pleased to find that the vote for the Department of Health and Home Affairs is increased this year. Queensland's free hospitals scheme stands out like a beaconlight to the other States of the Commonwealth. It is something of which this Government can be justifiably proud. Judging from the Federal Government's attitude in 1952 when they tried to withhold money that rightly belonged to this State unless a charge was made on all patients entering public wards in our hospitals, it was a measure of soeial security they did not want to see the people of this State enjoy.

Sir Earle Page complained somewhat bitterly that the people of this State were not joining the Medical Benefits Scheme in the same numbers as in other States. There is a very good reason for this. They do not have to. The best possible medical skill and attention is available to them without making any contributions whatever. Sir Earle Page is more concerned at the failure of the Medical Benefits Fund in this State, to build up dividends for the British Medical Association to the extent that is happening in other States than in providing social justice to the people of this country.

I recently had the opportunity of seeing firsthand the very high standard of hospitalisation built up in almost every centre of importance and size in this State. Base hospitals have been set up in all major centres at which specialists' attention is available to the people without the necessity of their having to travel to metropolitan hospitals for these services. The recent opening of the new Mental Hospital at Charters Towers at an estimated cost when completed of £2,000,000 will bring about a great improvement in the treatment of the State's mentally sick people. In addition it will enable those so afflicted to be domiciled in their own areas in many cases, thus facilitating visits by their relatives. The location of this hospital at Charters Towers provides it with a very fine climate and

makes possible the classincation of' Jla~:lentS' in that area of the State: the phys1cally sick being treated at the Base I-Io,pital, the mentally sick at the Mental Hospital and the aged and infirm at the Eventide Home also in that centre.

These, Mr. Clark, are tne standards by ~which this Budget should and shall be ,judged. The people of this State will weigh its features very thoroughly. I believe they will have regard for the sound principles that have guided this Govcmment over the years and which are evident throughout this Financial Statement in the shaping and implementing of a policy for the rapid development of all parts of the State-also in the interests of the people.

The proaramme outlined therein will inspire confidence "in that its provisions are ambitious and realistic and have full regard to the requirements of the people. It also has the realisation that this State must be developed by this Labour Government in spite of the Commonwealth Government doing nought for its assistance.

Time is running out on this question. There arc some 1,200,000,000 land-hungry people in our near north, some of whom at least have indicated that their attitude to Australia is that we have no moral right to hold this country unless we are prepared to develop and populate it. . ~he Budg<:t, _1 submit, contains these prOVlSlOns and 1t ::s within the capacity of the people of th1s State to do1 so. In conclusion, I compliment the Treasurer on his Financial Statement and I believe it will also have the endorsement of the people of Queensland.

lUr. PLUNKETT (Darlington) (3.56 p.m.): Mr. Clark, I intend to e":amine ~he figures in the Budget. They are mterestmg but not in keeping with the speeches in support of it from hon. members of the Government.

lUr. Wood: Don't you think it is a good Budget~

lUr. PL UNKETT: A good Budget, in as much as it shows a surplus, but it also shows a failure to spend money where expenditure was badly needed. It is the easiest thing in the world for a Treasurer to show a surplus if he does not spend his money.

lUr. Walsh: But the Moore Government spent no money and they had deficits.

~Ir. PLUNKETT: It has been stated, and rightly so, that our parliamentary system has depreciated over the years. In my early days in this Parliament it was infra dig. for a Minister to interrupt an hon. member. We have gone a long way since then. Today it is possible to have a dialogue with a Minister on any speech one makes. The result of this is that politicians have not the standing amongst, or the goodwill of, the people that they should have.

~Ir. Walsh: You believe that your side can throw all the muck they like at Ministers while Ministers must not reply.

lUr. PLUNKETT: The hon. gentleman will have an opportunity of replying.

'714 Supply. [ASSEMBLY.] Supply.

Mr. Walsh: But not enough.

lUr. PLUNKETT: Then I shall move that the hon. gentleman be granted an extension of time because he will need more than an hour and a half to get himself out of the position in which he will be placed when we have put all our figures before the Committee.

Hon. members on the Government side are well schooled. The first thing they do when rising to speak is to congratulate the Treasurer upon his Budget. I congratulate him upon being able to discipline his members in that way.

The Treasurer shows a surplus of £342,934. The cash balances in all funds a.t the end of' June 1953 totalled £19,511,886 while at 30 June of this year they amounted to £24,402,057. The difference in favour of this year is £5,891,171, proving conclusively that there has been no shortage of money, yet hon. members opposite continue to complain about lack of funds. What is the good of our saying that we have a surplus at the end of the year and of boasting about having a surplus for 15 consecutive years when the country is starving for the exependiture of that money~

The Treasurer has stated that the reason for the loss shown by the Railway Department was the concessions given to primary producers. I shall examine that point later, but the Government's catch-cry over the years has been that the Federal Government will not give them money and therefore they cannot do this, that or the other thing. The excuse has been used so often that it has worn threadbare. It has been stated so many times that the people have come to believe it, despite the fact that it has been disproved by fa.cts and figures. The fact is that Queensland has received the second highest grant of all the States on a population basis.

lUr. Walsh: You are referring to one grant. Give us all grants by the Commonwealth and see how it works out.

Mr. PLUNKETT: The present system under which the Commonwealth Government collect taxes for us is ridiculous. It is time the States got back their taxing powers.

~Ir. Walsh: All you have to do is to get your Party to ask for more.

llir. PLUNKETT: We blow about Queensland being a Sovereign State but somebody else has to collect our taxation for us and we will lose our sovereignty very quickly if !this goes on. The collection of taxation by the Commonwealth during the war was all right but surely to goodness each State should now be able to stand on its own feet and be responsible for its own taxation and expenditure. This State in particular is complaining that the Commonwealth Government have not given it money. It is getting more than it is entitled to under the formula set up by the States themselves. Queensland has had her share just as the other States have had theirs and what is more, Queensland has had another lot--

llir. Walsh: That is not true.

~Ir. PLUNKETT: That is where the Treasurer and I differ.

llir. Walsl1: The £8,000,000 give_n by the Chifiey Government was not contnbuted on the formula basis.

Mr. PLUNKETT: At no time did a Commonwealth Labour Government ever give any of the States money out of their own funds. Now we find that funds have been distributed to the States out of this Commonwealth Government's own funds. They have given Queensland £358.4 million over the last four years--

Mr. Walsh: But they took it from the taxpayers.

llir. PLUNKETT: I shall tell the Treasurer what he did to the taxpayers. His Government would probably have got more if world conditiOIIS had not been disturbed to the extent they are today.

Mr. Walsh: Oh!

lUr. PLUNKETT: Oh yes. The Treasurer objects to money being kept for the defe~ce of this country and the necessary social services.

Mr. Walsh: TheY have not allocated £1 more for defence this year than last year.

llir. PLUNKETT: There is no need for the hon. gentleman to dodge the issue. I am concerned about the development of Queensland and I draw attention to the finance involved in the railways. Surely the Treasurer must be concerned about this aspect. In three years his Government paid £4,749,917 in overtime in_ the Railway Department. I want to be fmr and say that I am not blaming anybody but surely something could be done to rectiEy the position.

:ilir. Walsh: There are a few branch lines in your electorate not paying and could be closed.

Mr. PLUNKETT: It is a wonder to me that any line pays under this Government's rule. Our lossef! over those three years were £10,105,060. How long can we expect to continue with this sort of thing~

Mr. Jesson: A mere bagatelle to the railways.

llir. PLUNKETT: This is a serious matter and needs close attention. It is of no use trying to blame the Commonwealth Government for our railway position although manv hon. members opposite talk about the money that the Commonwealth Governm~nt are spending in South Australia to standardiSe the lines in that State. This was agreed upon some time ago, but Queensland would not have anything to do with it.

Mr. Walsll: You supported our attitude.

Mr. PLUNKETT: I believe I did. llir. Walsh: We are not objecting.

~Ir. PLUNKETT: They are spending that monev in South Australia because there was an agreement with that State.

~Ir. Larcombe: What about the Dajarra line in justice to Queenslanrl ~

Supply. [14 OcTonm:a.) Supply. 715 ..

Mr. PLUNKETT: When I look at the money spent in overtime and the £10,000,000 loss I know more than ever why Queensland wants the Commonwealth Govemment to build the Dajarra-Camooweal link.

~Ir. Walsh: That would not be giving us any more than they have given South Australia.

lUr. PLUNKETT: That is why this Government are trying to shift the responsibility onto the Federal Government for the Dajarra-Camooweal railway.

I know that the railways are a huge undertaking, but there must be something wrong somewhere when all these losses occur. It is time an investigation was made into the Railway Department. We cannot continue to incur losses totalling £10,000,000 in three years. The users of the railways are being penalised in the Government's effort to bridge the gap. In 1947-1948 fares and freights were increased by 22.7 5 per cent. Although there were no increases in 1948-1949 or in 1950-1951, in 1951-1952 there were increases of 8. 75 per cent., 5.1 per cent. and 10.3 per cent. Those are some of the concessions that the Treasurer claims he has given to the primary producer! Again in 1952-1953 there were no increases in fares and freights, but in 1953-1954 there was a further increase of 5.25 per cent. 'l'hat increase brought in £2,500,000 and was responsible for reducing the previous year's deficit of £4,660,000 to £1,936,000. That money was taken from the users of the railways. If an increase in fares and freights of 5 per cent. brought in £2,500,000, how much has been taken from the users of the railways since 1947-1948~ It must have been a colossal amount. Are increases in rail fares and freights the only concessions that the Government can give the primary producer~ They are concessions in reverse.

Another matter to which I wish to draw attention is the increase in motor-vehicle registration fees. In 1950 they were increased by 68 per cent. and in 1952 by a further 50 per cent. They increased from £630,000 in 1949-1950 to £1,195,000 in 1953-1954. The increase from 1949-1950 to 1953-1954 was £564,584. You have to meet it out of Loan Funds. I was a bit concerned about the Treasurer's statement the other day. The hon. gentleman said that if he had his way he would increase the licence for the manufacture of margarine.

Mr. Walsh: Yes, as long as they can manufacture it. I say it again.

Mr. PLUNKETT: That is where we got the 6,834 tons from.

~Ir. Walsh: The dairy farmers are buying it.

Mr. PLUNKETT: Wbo?

Mr. Walsh: You go up to the dairying company and find out.

Mr. PLUNKETT: That is another catchcry. The hon. member for Fassifern referred

to the shareholders in Provindal Traders: They are men concerned in the sugar industry in the Treasurer's own electorate.

~Ir. Walsh: They are all supporters of the country Party. They are not in my electorate, they are in the Isis and Port Curtis electorates.

Mr. PLUNKETT: If they are not, they should be. These people represent a company interested in the manufacture of sugar that gets protection in this country.

Mr. Walsh: So does the dairying industry.

lUr. PLUNKETT: Yes, I did not say it didn't. 'fhese men in the sugar industryevidently friends of the Treasurer-are interested in the manufacture of margarine which is competing with butter. Is it fair for them to take all the protection the country gives them in regard to sugar ancl then use a black-labour-grown product in the manufacture of margarine that will compete with butter~

~Ir. Walsh: If anything is imported from )black-labour countries the Menzic,s-Fadden Government are responsible.

m:r. PLUNKETT: They are not responsible. Copra oil is used for many purposes ancl we want it in the country. It would not have been used in the manufacture of margarine if it were not for the fact that this Government granted licences for the manufacture of margarine.

~Ir. Aikens: Half the sugar crop is sold overseas in competition with black-grown sugar.

m:r. PLUNKETT: It is produced under Australian conditions just like the product of the dairying industry. These people who are making much money in the sugar industry should not set up an industry and use a black-labour-grown product to m:mufacture a foodstuff to compete with butter.

~Ir. Aikens: What about Jones's IXL jams~ They set up big farms to produce pineapples with black-grown labour in competition with our own pineapples. I am told that many of your members hold shares in that company.

lllr. PLUNKETT: If the hon. member wants to make a speech I shall sit down. The Treasurer talked about concessions to producers.

llir. Walsh: The hon. member for Norman gave them this morning.

Mr. PLUNKETT: The Treasurer gave them the other day. I had a look at these so-called concessions and I find that they are not concessions at all. They are o bligations as far as my industry is concerned. Let us consider the amount of capital outlay I have to make in order to become a dairy farmer. The Secretary for Public Lands anu Irrigation stated the other day that it costs about £10,000 to set up as a farmer, and that is about right. These are the people who would be detrimentally affected by th8


sale of margarine. The Government sends a Yaluer down to value the farmer's land and he is taxed on that valuation. The revaluation of lands has brought many more landholders within the ambit of land tax. He gets stock and taxation is imposed on that. When he has to get his produce to the markets he must pay increased charges for that. That is a form of taxation. The TreasuTer imposes further taxation in wg:nd to land tax. It is against the farmt:r ail the time and it continues like th'lt all the time. It is the farmer who pays. Even when he gets his product to the manufacturing centres or factories he is not free. He is <lharged 3d.-it used to be 1d.-for every lOO lb. of butter; Hd. for every 100 lb. of cheese, and Hd. for every 100 gallons of milk sold on the Brisbane market.

If he owns any stock he has to pay on those stock under the Dairy Cattle Improvement Act. Not only has he to pay such charges but he also has to contribute towards the Council of Agriculture. The Bill amended the tax in no uncertain way. The following shows the increase in taxation on cattle, horses, and sheep:-

1 1 1

915 931 950

Year.

00

..

..

I

00 00

.. 00 .. ..

Cattle and Horses per 100 Head.

£ s. d. 0 2 6 0 6 6 1 0 0

Sheep per 100 Head.

£ s. d. 0 0 6 0 0 9 0 5 0

1953 .. .. .. 2 0 0 I 0 10 0

Additional revenue of £270,000 is expected from horses, cattle, and sheep.

]}lr, Walsll: Even that does not pay for the services rendered by the department. You know that it is heavily subsidised out of Consoliuated Revenue.

]}fr. PLUNKETT: The Treasurer has his land tax to collect and today even the old pig is brought under taxation for the first time in history. They impose a tax of 10s. for even one pig. A farmer may have so many pigs, but even if he has only one !m has to pay the 10s. for that one pig. This' tax is expected to bring in £7,000, but after hearing the hon. member for Marodian with regard to the fixation of price in regard to bacon and ham, the Treasurer will not be collecting any tax at all because nobody will want pigs. They are too expensive to eat. We have now got into the position where the man on the land is paying more than his fair share of taxes towards this State. We must first realise that Queensland is a primary producing State. It is a State that must be developed to a greater extent than it has been in the past. We must realise the opportunities that exist in this State if only reasonable taxation was imposed. However, the Government try to exploit the farmers in every way possible. In fact, nowadays political life is very bitter. Politics appear to be placed first and the welfare of the country a long way last.

Mr. Walsh: I do not t.hink you can say that the hon. member for Darlington is bitter.

I\Ir. PLUNKETT: No, and I am not bitter in politics either, although there are some who may think I am. This is the best State of the Commonwealth, but we cannot hide the fact that it is not progressing as it should. There is no doubt about that. The R,ailway Department is not relieving the position other than by increasing fares and freights. This eventually will kill the railways, and if the trains do not run the traffic will be driven to road transport. We must on no account do that, because the railways must be kept operating as long as possible.

Hon. members on the Government side have continually blamed the Commonwealth Government for not giving us money. We have proved that the Commonwealth have given this Government more than enough money. Hon. members on the Government side have resorted to personalities and s·:ek to discredit that great Queenslancler, Sir Arthur Fad den. We ought to be proud of him. Over the years, he has shown that he is capable of holding down one of the m~st important positions in _the ~ustral~ll:n. Parhament. I object to lns bemg cntlCised by men who do not know the first thing about politics.

Let us examine Sir Arthur Fad den's political history. In 1932, he was . elected to this Parliament but was defeated m 1935 by 224 votes. The then Premi~r, th.e la~e Hon. \V. Forgan Smith, recogmsed m Su ATthur l''adden a brilliant young man and he felt that he ought to get rid of him from this Parliament because according to him, he was sitting on the ~vrong side of the Chamber. As a result, the Government amended the Elections Act to include residential conuitions as a qualification of a candidate for any seat. Actually, by taking that action this Government clid the best thing they could have done for Australia and Sir Arthur Fadden. Shortly after his defeat, Sir Arthur was elected to the Federal Parliament as representative for the Darling Downs and he has been re-elected five times since then as representative for that area. And hon. members opposite who do not know the first thing about politics seek to criticise a man of Sir Arthur 's calibre!

]}lr. Aikens: He is a North Queenslander yet he could not win a seat in the North. I can give him 2,000 start in Mundingburra.

Mr. PLUNKETT: I wish the chairman would give the hon. member a start. Sir Arthur Fadden was elected five times to represent the Darling Downs area.

I\Ir. Walsh: The story you tell sounds like the retreat from Moscow.

Mr. PLUNKETT: The Treasurer is only jealous because he has not the ability and knowledge possessed by Sir Arthur Fadden. Instead of being proud of a fellow Queenslander who has been able to enter the Australian Parliament and hold down one of the biggest jobs in it for more than three years--

lUr. Burrows: He is only there as the nominee of the Bank of New South Wales.


l\Ir. PLUNKETT: Who would not nominate the hon. member, anyway~ I repeat that it annoys me to hear men who do not know the first thing about politics criticising this great Australian. Because of the ability shown by him over the years, Australia is now more prosperous than ever. There are very few unemployed in Queensland, and our Federal Treasurer is responsible for that. The Queensland Treasurer is really basking in the glorious record of achievement by the Federal 'Treasurer, Sir Arthur Fadden. Sir Arthur Fadden proved himself a success. His Government stopped inflation and built up the finances of Australia to such an extent that they could give Queensland more than she could spend. I would not say more than this Government wanted. Because of our exports ovcrocas the v,"eultll of this country is reflected in every State and the Queensland Labour GoYernment are basking in the sunshine created by the Commonwealth Government. It is nearly time hon. members opposite gave up trying to damn Sir Arthur. He is one of the best that Queensland has ever produced. He has proved himself nnd he has the support of the people to a greater extent now than ever before. I am pleased to see a Queenslander taking a place in the affairs of this Commonwealth and I am glad that he has retained his office notwithstanding misrepresentation by his political opponents in Queensland. In the other States Sir Arthur Fadden is kno1rn for what he is. Here, because he is politically opposed to the Government, hon. members opposite would like to cut his throat.

lUr. KEHOE (Nash) (4.34 p.m.): I wish to join hon. members in congratulating the Treasurer on the excellent Financial Statement he presented to this Committee. The statement itself is a verv fine document and a comprelleJ,si ve report giving details of revenue and expenditure during the last financial year. It also contains the estimates of expenditure for the current year. The Financial Statement shows another surplus, making- the fifteenth in sixteen years, a splendid record for the Queensland State Labour Government. It speaks volumes for the efficiency of the ar1n:iuistm tion of the Government and justifies the confidence reposed in the Government by the people of the State repeatedly over the years. The people showed their confidence in Labour at the last elections when they gave an overwhelming majority to the Labour Party. I should like to say that 5S per cent. of the electors in contested clectorntes voted for the Gair L'abour Government, that 21 per cent. voted for the Country Party and only 19 per cent. for the I.iberal Party. \Ve can appreciate the confidence the electors of the State have in the Government and I appreciate the difficulties of the Opposition in endeavouring to find fault with the Trensurer's handling of the finances of the State. There was never a more pitiful example of that than the speeches made by the hon. members for Coorpnroo and Isis in their endeavours to attack the Financial Statement. They realise, just as much as we on this side of the Chamber, that our Treasurer has one of the best brains on financial

matters in Australia today. This Labour Government have been very fortunate over the years in having had a long line of able Treasurers. Particularly should I like to mention the late E. G. Theodore, the late IV. Forgan Smith, the present Premier, the hon. member for Rockhampton, and the present Treasurer. This State owes a lot to those men, who have carried out the high and onerous position of Treasurer with great distinction.

It is very hard to understand how hon. members opposite can support the action of the Federal Liberal-Country Party Government in starving Queensland of funds. There is no reason why money that is paid by Queensland taxpayers should be used by the Commonwealth Government to finance undertakings in the southern States. One of the tables in the Financial Statement shows that Queensland is receiving a lower sum per head of population from the £200,000,000 borrowing programme for 1954-1955 than any other State. These are the figures-

Tasmania .. South Australia Western Australia Victoria . . . . New South Wales .. Queensland

Total Amount per Amount. Capita.

£ 14,400,000 27,176,000 19,000,000 52,650,000 64,800,000 21,974,000

£ s. d. 44 14 5 34 17 6 29 11 0 21 9 3 18 7 5 16 19 7

Those figures are undeniable and prove conclusively that Queensland is not receiving its just share of loan moneys from the Commonwealth Government.

Another very pertinent fact pointed out by the Treasurer in the Financial Statement is that Queensland's revenue has not increased comparatively with those of the other States since before the war, when each State imposed its own taxation. Hon. members will remember that prior to the war Queensland imposed its own taxation.

Mr. Pizzey: And it was the highest-taxed State.

lUr. KEHOE: Admittedly it was the highest-taxed State, but it was far ahead of any other State in the social services that it gave to the people.

Mr. Walsh: And in the industrial position.

Mr. KEHOE: And, as the Treasurer says, in the industrial position.

When the Federal Labour Government took office in 1941, they found that the other States of the Commonwealth were far behind Queensland in both social service benefits and industrial conditions. In that year the Federal Labour Government had not only to prosecute a war effort with all their might, but they had to endeavour to bring the other States up to the standard that Queensland had reached prior to the war. We know very \Yell that other States of the Commonwealth had not been blessed for years with a Labour Government as Queensland had been. New South Wales had a Tory Government for


many years prior to the war, and so did Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia. Those States did not have the hospital or health service that we enjoy in Queensland. They did not have a Labour Bureau to assist workers nor did they have an Unemployment Insurance Fund from which men out of employment were given assistance. When the Commonwealth introduced those serv.ice~ so necessary to the people of Austraha, It appeared to many electors in Queensland that the Commonwealth Government were duplicating services in this State. The people in the other States that were under Tory rule for many years had not experienced the benefits of social services and industrial conditions such as were enjoyed in Queensland. The Commonwealth Government set up a Commonwealth Employment Service that duplicated the service that had been enjoyed in Queensland for many years. Vle know that the Liberal Country Party Health Minister Sir Earle Page endeavoured to put the clock back and ruin the marvellous health service that is operating in this State under a Labour Government.

I wish to refer to the table that is found in the Treasurer's Statement showing the per capita taxation levied in the various States in 1938-1939 and the tax reimbursement grants in 1953-1954, and the percentage increase. It is as follows-

Per Capita.

Receipts. bursement Per-Income Tax

1 Tax Reirn-~

Grants. centage , _____

1_19_3_8_-_1_93_9_. ___ 1_95_3_-_1_95_4_._

1 __ r_nc_r_ea_s_e_.

£ 8. d. £ 8. d. Per cent. Tasmania 3 6 3 15 5 4 360·8 South Australi~ , 3 10 8 15 19 8 352·4 Victoria

Au's: 3 6 9 14 10 0 334·5

Western tralia

South 5 1

New 1 17 18 6 254·7

Wales .. 4 12 11 16 4 5 249·1 Queensland .. 511 3 17 16 8 220·6

Queensland had looked after the electors of this State prior to the war and gave them the social services to which they were entitled, and the Commonwealth Government have refused to give this State Government the amount that was levied prior to the war with the same percentage increase as granted to other States. States like Victoria are receiving more than 100 per cent. increase in their taxation compared with what they levied in 1938-1939. Those figures provide a damning indictment of the ex-Queenslander the Federal 'rreasurer, Sir Arthur :b'adden: He knows what Queenslanders were used to under State Labour Governments, but he refused to give us our just rights.

Electricity development has been pushed on by Labour Governments in this State over the years. During the last 15 years there has been a remarkable increase in the reticulation of electricity. The Government have been seized of the importance of providing this amenity in order to retard the drift to the city. Country districts are getting extra amenities, the chief of which is a supply of cheap electricity. The provision

of home comforts such as lighting, cooking, refrigeration, radio, heating and cleaning are of great importance to country women. They make for more contentment for those on the land. The Government in pursuing this policy are endeavouring to decentralise the population. T'he use of electric milking, shearing and other machines is of the utmost importance to the man on the land. Development of electricity is vital to the progress of this northern State. The progress in the supply of electricity is indicated by the following figures:-

1936-1937 1951-1952 1953-1954

Units sold. 195,000,000 902,000,000

1,015,000,000 The Treasurer in his Financial Statement makes a very factual statement ou the increase of the supply of electricity compared with the other States. Queensland is foremost a primary producing State. Its population is scattered and the problem of supplying electricity is very great from the distribution side and even more so than from the generating angle. The costs of distribution have not been lessened for this reason. It is interesting to note that in the past few weeks Ministers of the Government have switched on for the first time the light in various country towns. The Attorney-General switched electricity on at Bollon and the Secretary for Public Instruction switched it on at Kilkivan. Although this town is in the electorate of the hon. member for Marodian and this was a milestone in the history of that town we never heard the hon. member recognise that important fact. He was present on the occasion but he gave no credit to this Government who are endeavouring to push electricity supplies into c.ountry districts. Recently electricity was switched on at Calliope and I understand in the next week-end it will be switched on at Augatholla. This constitutes a milestone in the history of these particular districts. It will aid in the progress of the primary producers in those areas. Moreover it will be another victory for the foresight of the Labour Government when the electricity power will be turned on at the Tully Falls hydro-electric scheme. It is expected that this will take place in 1956. This will be an achievement or great value to the State as a whole. This station will eventually supply electric power over North Queensland from Tully to Cairns, Mossman, the Atherton Tableland and out to Mt. Garnet. The implementation of electricity schemes in 14 towns in the West of Queensland, with liberal subsidies from the Labour Government, subsidies ranging up to 65 per cent. is a grand illustration of the Government's concern for those unselfish Queenslanders who reside in that area. I am pleased that the supply of electricity is being pushed on with in the country districts of my electorate. Here I refer to a letter received the other day from the Secretary for Mines-

"With further reference to your representation for the extension of electricity to the Ross Creek, Goomboorian, Kia Ora, and Tin Can Bay areas, I have now

Supply. [14 OoroBER.] Supply. 719

received advice from the Commissioner for Electricity Supply that the Southern Electric Authority of Queensland has recently completed a survey of the Ross Creek, Goomboorian, and Kia Ora areas.

'' E.stimates of the costs which will be involved in extending supply to these areas have been prepared and it appears likely that the S.E.A. will extend supply to these areas in the near future.

''The Authority has advised, however, that the Tin Can Bay area presents a difficult problem. When details of the results of this survey are available, I shall advise you further.''

I am very grateful that electricity supply will be extended to the farmers in the Ross Creek, Goomboorian, and Kia Ora areas because it means so much to those districts.

Another interesting fact in the Financial Statement is the progress of the State Government Insurance Office, which is another example of the great interest the Labour Government of this State have taken in the welfare of the people.

Last session there were certain amendments of the ·workers' Compensation Acts. One of these was to increase the benefit for a fatal injury sustained at a worker's place of employment from £1,500 to £2,500. Unfortunately, since that legislation was passed, four men in Gympie have been killed at their places of employment. I handled the claims of the widows for workers' compensation and here I pay tribute to the Treasurer and the officers of the State Government Insuranee Office for the speedy way in which the claims were finalised. Each widow received over £1,000 as a result of the beneficial legislation passed by this Government.

In my electorate there are many retired miners suffering from that dread disease, miners' phthisis. Over the years the Labour Government have helped them in no small way and there was no keener advocate of the cause of these miners than my predecessor, the late Mr. Dunstan. On every possible occasion he pleaded for increased workers' compensation benefits to retired miners. Those miners who are still living and the widows of many others are enjoying these benefits from the humane legislation brought down by this Government from time to time.

One has only to peruse the pages of "Hansa.rd" at the time when the Workers' Compensation Act was first introduced to realise what great opposition there was to the Bill by the political progenitors of the present Opposition. They fought the Workers' Compensation Bill tooth and nail. They bitterly opposed any benefits for the workers of Queensland.

During the recent State elections, my Liberal-Country Party opponent repeatedly

attacked the State Labour Government for denying the school children of Queensland the free milk to which they were entitled.

Mr. Evans: They have not got it.

Mr. KEHOE: Not in my electorate, and I will prove who is responsible for it. In the "Gympie Times" of 24 February, 1953, during the last election campaign the LiberalCountry Party candidate claimed that the State Government had deprived Quee:1sland school children of free milk. He explained that the Commonwealth Government had agreed to meet the full cost of supply and delivery of the milk and one-half of the capital cost involved. He appealed to every mother in the N ash electorate and members of the various welfare associations to vote for him and correct the alleged shocking state of affairs. I am pleased, however, to say that the electors of N ash, including the mothers and members of the school welfare associations, did not heed the advice given them by the Liberal-Country Party candidate and voted for me, as the endorsed Labour candidate.

I wish to prove to the Committee just who is responsible for depriving school children of Gympie and district of the milk they are justly entitled to. In the first place I thank the Secretary for Public Instruction and the officials of his department who at all times have left no stone unturned in their efforts to have a milk scheme implemented in the Gympie district. I want to refer to correspondence that I received from that department from time to time and I ask hon. members to bear with me when I read statements to make certain that the blame for the milk scheme not being implemented in the Gympie electorate is placed in the correct quarter. The first letter I received from the Secretary for Public Instruction reads-

" Free milk scheme (Gym pie district)

''Referring to your further interview with me and your personal representations in connection with the above matter I desire to advise that arrangements for tho extension, by road delivery, of supply of bottled pasteurised milk to the Gympie schools have been completed after final consultations with the supplying company to meet the requirements of the State Health Authorities.

''The Commonwealth Department of Health, Brisbane, was fully advised of, the proposals on 17th ultimo and their decision to authorise a commencement of supply was requested. A reply received from that department on 20th idem advised that the proposal had been referred to their department in Canberra. No decision has yet been received and a follow-on communication has been despatched to the Commonwealth Authorities seeking an early decision.

''Everything is in readiness for a c0m · mencement so far as my Department and the company are concerned and immediately the necessary approval is received from the Commonwealth, prompt action will be taken in the matter.


''The schools in Gym pie, and en route, immediately concerned number thirteen as under-

Gym pie Central G;,mpie Infants ::VIonkland One-mile Two-mile South Side State High and

Intermediate St. Patrick 's

Convent Gym pie

Kindergarten Goomeri Manyung Cinnabar Woolooga

involving over 1, 700 pupils. ''The extension to Gunalda School and

others in adjoining areas will be discussed with the State Health Authorities and the Commonwealth as soon as possible after the position respecting the proposal to service Gym pie schools is finalised.''

The second letter received from the Secretary for Public Instruction reads-

'' \Vith further reference to your personal representations to me relative to the extension of the Free Milk Scheme to schools in the Gympie centre, I desire to advise that a reply has now been received by my Department from the Commonwealth Department of Health, Canberra, to which department the quotation from the South Burnett Co-operative Dairy Association Ltd., Murgon, for supply and delivery was referred for approval.

''The Commonwealth Department of Health has now advised that the quotation by the company for supply and delivery (in one-third pint bottles) to Gympie schools is not acceptable. The Commonwealth Department of Health's proposal relative to the price to be paid for the school milk has been referred back to the South Burnett company for its consideration and advice to this Department.

''Immediately this is received the matter will be again submitted to the Commonwealth for further consideration and I shall see that you are advised of the decision reached.''

Here is another letter from the Minister-"With further reference to your per

sonal representations . . . . I desire to enclose for your information copy of a letter dated 23 August subsequently received by me from the South Burnett Co-operative Dairy Association Ltd. In order to endeavour to assist in securing reconsideration of the matter, a copy of the Company's letter referred to was transmitted by my department to the Commonwealth Director-General of Health, Canberra, and now I append hereunder for your information a copy of a letter dated 7 September received by my department from the Commonwealth Director-General of Health.''

The letter from the Commonwealth DirectorGeneral of Health reads-

'' I refer to your letter of 24 August, 1954, regarding the request submitted by the South Burnett Co-operative Dairy Association Ltd. for approval to supply milk to schools in the Gympie district at a price of 6s. 2d. per gallon for pasteurised milk in one-third pint bottles. This matter has now been re-examined, but the Commonwealth is unable to agree to payment of a price greater than the household price for one-pint bottles, namely, 6s. per gallon.''

That is the correspondence that I received from the Secretary for Public Instruction on the matter, and it contains a direct refusal by the Commonwealth Director-General of Health to approve of a scheme for the Gympie school children.

])Jr. Brosnan: The Federal Government denied them milk.

Mr. KEHOE: As the hon. member for Fortitude Valley has said, the Federal Government have denied to the children of the Gympie district milk for which the people of Queensland are paying.

I should now like to refer to a report of a meeting of the Gympie Chamber of Commerce that appeared in the ''Gym pie Times'' of 21 September. It reads as follows-

"Criticism of Government Attitude over Free Milk.

'' 'The Commonwealth Government's attitude over an extra 2d. a gallon for milk was paltry and was depriving Gympie school children of milk under the free-milk scheme,' said a member of the Chamber of Commerce at last night's meeting.

''The member stated that there would be only a.bout 600 bottles necessary, and the extra 2d. would mean only 1-12th of a penny per day. The extra 2d. would mean approximately £26 a year, and Gympie school children were being refused milk because of this.''

The report continues-'' 'If the Government is that paltry

I personally would donate £1 towards the extra cost.'

"It was then moved that the Gym pie Chamber of Commerce write to the Federal member, Mr. Adermann, M.H.R, expressing regret at the Commonwealth Government's bickering over the extra cost of milk and the seconder of the motion said that' the cost quoted by the Association was considered most economical because of the cost entailed in the transport of milk. 'If this is the lowest price,' he said 'it should be accepted. The attitude of the Commonwealth Government in withholding the matter for the sake of a few pounds a year is paltry.' ''

The Gympie Chamber of Commerce has taken the Federal Tory Government to task over their niggardly attitude in this matter,

Supply. [14 OCTOBER.] Supply. 721\

and I wish to support them in their efforts to have a free-milk scheme implemented in the Gympie district.

lUr. Brosnan: A very paltry attitude.

~Ir. KEHOE: A very paltry attitude, as the hon. member for Fortitude Valley says.

When the Federal Minister for Health introduced the free-milk scheme, he had in mind only school children in the cities. Although he is a Country Party member, he was not concerned about the children of the West or the children in the country towns of Queensland. He was concerned only about buying votes in the capital cities of Australia. As we on this side of the Chamber have said many times, the real farmers' party is the Labour party. We have looked after the farmers over the years, lYe have placed legislation beneficial to them on the statute books of this State, and we shall continue to look after their interests. The so-called Country Party betrayed the farmers when they linked up with the Liberal Party, who represent vested interest. The hon. member for Marodian referred to the period prior to 1929-1932. During the period 1929-1932 Queensland experienced dark clays when the Moore Government reigned in this State. It is necessary for Labour members to remind the people of Queensland of that dreadful period. When the Moore Government took office they had an opportunity to do a job, but they failed the people of this State in the same way as Sir Arthur Fadclen failed the people of the Commonwealth in 1941. The hon. member for Marodian referred to the unemployed in this State prior to 1929. I shall quote figures taken from the Commonwealth Year Book showing the number of unionists who were unemployed when the Tory Government assumed office in 1929. In that year there were 55,284 unionists and of that number 3,917 or 7.1 per cent. were unemployed. When Labour left office in 1929 there was £4,500,000 in reserves in the Treasury for the purpose of creating work for those unemployed. We know very well what happened to those millions. The hon. member for Sandgate has told us that the money was sent to the southern States where it was expended.

lUr. Nicklin: It was not expended in the southern States.

Ur. KEHOE: It was sent to South Australia and other States. The Federal Treasurer is now spending money that was taken from Queensland taxpayers on building projects in the southern States. When the Tory Government were defeated in 1932 there were 47,578 unionists in this State, and 8,949 or 18.8 per cent. were unemployed. There was an increase in the number of unemployed from 7.1 to 18.8.

J)lr. Pizzey: Why didn't Mr. Scullen take action?

~Ir. KEHOE: When Mr. Scullen was in power he had a hostile Federal Senate that impeded his efforts. There was a United

Australia Party majority in the Senate, and it goes without saying that they refused t~ pass legislation that would have benefited the workers of Australia. In 1929 there were 424 093 unionists in Australia, of which 47 359 were unemployed or 11.1 per cent. In 1932 the figures were 415,434 unionists, 120,454 unemployed, an increase of 29 per cent., in other words 8.659 per cent. more carried their swags round the country.

There is no doubt that Queensland has the greatest potential for rural development of all the States. Last year in this Chamber I referred to the report of Dr. J. Griffitlm Davies Associate Chief of the Commonwealth Scientific Research Organisation concerning the potentialities in the variou_s States. That was in October last but It has taken ''The Courier-Mail'' just 12 months t~ catch up with this important doc~me1~t. ''The Courier-Mail'' referred to 1t lD its publication of 28 September, 1954. The report says volumes for the potentialities of this State. I was interested to read the statement of the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock on the possibilities of settling the Vvallum country area which extends along the coast belt from Rockhampton to the southern border. In my electorate the Forestry Department has taken advantage. of this country and has tested reforestatw.n projects since the war. It has used tlns country to good advantage. The project extends from Goondoo, which is known as the Toolam Forest. The idea is to extend it through to the Tuan area near Maryborough. At Tuan and at Toolara growth of the various pines, in some instanc~s imported pines, has been remarkable. This shows that the W allum country can be and will be used for the benefit of this State.

The Commonwealth Statistician announced recently that the trade balance for 1953· 1954 had dropped alarmingly to £149.4 million from £357.2 million in 1952-1953. The Federal Liberal-Country Party and the Commonwealth Government are responsible for this alarming trend in the economy of Australia.

~Ir. Nicklin: Why?

~Ir. KEHOE: Over the years they have clone nothing to place the country on a sou.nd footing. They have adopted a nega~Ive attitude of imposing import r:stnctwns which should not be necessary for this country. They are relying on the good seasons the primary producers have had and the wool and wheat cheques. They are living solely on the high wool prices, yet they sit ):lt;ck and take credit for the prosperous condition of the country. It has only been their good fortune that the economy of Australia h:;-s remained stable. Now we hear talk of theu imposing import restrictions once again. If there is an adverse trade balance, we shall have unemployment in Australia within a very short time.

Mr. Walsh: And they will hand a dirty mess over to Labour, as they did during the war.


Mr. KEHOE: That is so. In 1941, the Federal Country Party leader failed the people of Australia, just as he is failina them now in his handling of the Common": wealth's financial affairs.

Mr~ Walsh: They remember when Mr. Menzies accused Sir Arthur Fadden of stabbing him in the back.

fll~· KEHOE: At that time, the Prime Mmister complained that the Federal Treasurer had stabbed him in the back and he is capable of doing that again. ' The la~k of bal3:nce in our economy is due to our failure to mcrease our exports of primary products. Sir Arthur Fadden is supposed to be a Country Party representative, yet he has taxed the primary producer to the extent of discouraging him from producing the extra goods to enable us to maintain essential exports. The Commonwealth Governme~t have failed to attract largescale mvestment from other countries and failed this country at an important 'stage in our history. During the year 1953-1954 the value of our imports was £167 000 000 higher than in 1952-1953. This incre~se 'was due to the lifting of restrictions. I implore the Federal Tory Government to take interest in these important matters. After all, primary products represent from 80 per cent. ·~a ~0 per cent. of Australia's exports. It as Important that we give the primary producer some incentive to produce. Unless we can _export, we shall be unable to pay for the Imports that are so necessary in our national economy.

M!· CO~URN (Burdekin) (5.30 p.m.) : Durmg this debate I desire to discuss the ca~e, treatment and education of sub-normal children. I became i~terested in this subject because of a mother In my electorate who is un_:fortunate enough to have a very backward child whose physique is so poor that he is particularl:J: handicapped. As a result o:f my mterest bemg. aroused in this case I read extensiy~Iy and since coming to Brisbane h~ve VISited mo~t of the institutions dealing With work of this nature. This is a question o~ vital impo~·tance and I hope it will be discu~sed not m the light o:f politics but in the light of human suffering and the urgent need for the amelioration of those who are unfortunate enough to be affected. ·

As a background to the case I intend to p~esent I qu_ote the very sad case o:f young Richard. His parents were delighted as all parents ~re, wi~h his coming. He 'was a lovely child, havmg blue eyes fair hair an 3:ttractive complexion and an ~ngaging s'mile hke ~ost of ~hose human :fragments have_at th_at time. His parents conjured up in their mmds what a happy :future there would be :for them and their little son, but unfortunately before long they realised he was not developing as a normal child would. They became concerned and began a pilgrimage from one medical specialist to another until they were finally convinced that their son was subnormal and would remain so all his life and that there was nothing that medical science could possibly do to improve him. The father, unfortunately, five years ago,

died, leaving the mother to bear a burden much greater than that which most widows have to ca.rry. She, in the hope of doing everything she could for her child, joined an association of parents like herself who had subnormal children; she rendered yeoman service in this association. Unfortunately, she afterwards was diagnosed as a sufferer of cancer. She thought of what would become of her child, a child she loved as a mother would love a normal child, and it became a nightmare to her. She visualised that perhaps the only place in which he would end would be a mental institution. She :feared that he might become a waif or that he might fa]] into the hands of criminals and become a cat 's paw. Fortunately representatives of the W. A. Crowle Home, Sydney, assured her that come what may they would take care of her child and would guarantee her that for the rest of his life any kindness they could bestow on him would be bestowed. The mother died, having the consolation and the thought that her subnormal child would receive care and attention.

lUr. Aikens: How old was the little fellow when the mother died~

llir. CO BURN: Seven or eight. This is an authentic story and typical of many others in this Commonwealth and it is a plea on behalf of this type of child who is unable to care for himself, and always will be, that I make this speech today.

I have told hon. members the story and it will serve as a background for the case I ·am about to submit. Hon. members might rightly ask, "What is a sub-normal child~" A subnormal child has been defined very briefly as one with a crippled brain. An InterDepartmental Committee on Deviate Children appointed by the Union of South African Government, which made very extensive inquiries into this matter, described a subnormal child as one who, on account of incomplete development of mind, is permanently incapable of completing successfully a primary school course. That definition very closely approximates to the briefer definition, ''A child with a crippled brain.''

These children require supervisiOn and guidance throughout their lives. As the result of illness or injury at birth, or some other unknown mishap, their minds have been dimmed. They are loved and lovable, just like all other children, but because of their limited ability they are heavily handicapped. Because of that handicap, they need our sup·· port, our sympathy, and our help. They cannot learn as quickly as normal children, and we are told that, irrespective of how old they become, they are never able to manage their own affairs, and they are never able to work without supervision.

All sub-normal children are totally unaware of the terrible fate that has befallen them, and because of that they are defenceless against the cruel consequences. They seldom benefit from orthodox schooling. They are not much good when put on to arithmetic,

Supply. [14 OCTOBER.) Supply. 723-

English, reading, and subjects of, that nature. They need special schools and farms for employment after they leave school.

There are three phases, and I should like to deal with each of them. In Sydney, at the St. John of God School at Morisset, which is conducted by a Christian Brother, the Very Revd. Brother McMahon, there are about 112 children. Brother McMahon has devoted the whole of his life to their care. He has done a wonderful work and should go down in our history as being of the greatest and best humanitarian type. Because of the close association that he has had with these children and the expert know ledge that he has gained as the result, I shall quote whac he has said about them. This is what he has said-

'' The mentally handicapped child possesses only a limited potentiality. Its intelligence development will come to a stop somewhere on the road before it reaches the terminus. It is like a motor car with a defective engine, it just cannot make the grade. Sometimes the child that is progressing normally will be brought to a halt by some accident, such as brain fever.

''The best place for forming a defectiYe child is in a special residential training centre. There the life is stepped down to his intellectual level. He is not asked to do things that are above him. His companions are of the same mentality as himself. It is not always realised how much a retarded child can suffer when he is expected to live in normal surroundings. The strain can be too much for him and he may show it by anti-social behaviour. It is not only waste of time sending a retarded child to an ordinary school, it is throwing away any chances that he ha,; of learning.

''As the mental development of retarded children ceases earlier than it does in normals, it is important to begin training early. Washing hands has to be taught. 'l'he normal child learns to dress, wash, and feed by watching others. He possesses in a high degree the instinct of imitation, but the defective child is inert and needs to be taught laboriously the simplest things.

''The teaching is mainly sensory and is framed on the Montesorri system. There is no memorising, no black-board work; the child learns by handling things. A great amount of attractively coloured material is required in which the child may learn to recognise differences in the size, shape, thickness, length, colour, weight, etc., of things. When this is more or less mastered the child learns to make things wlth his hands. He can learn to make scarves and ties on a hand loom, wool mats, baskets, and a host of other things. It is surprising what imbecile children can be taught to do with patience.''

I again ask hon. members to reflect on this very reverend gentleman's words-

'' An ordinary child first learns to handle single letters and then uses these to build

up words. But defective children have little power of analysis. If the word is split up into letters it confuses them. They learn to recognise it as a whole. A common way of teaching the names of things is to get the child to go round the room and place a card with its name on each object. Through repetition, the written word and the piece of furniture come to be associated together in the mind. As a preparation for writing a sand tray is used. The child writes simple words in the sand with his finger. It has been found that one of the aids to writing is the memory of the movements that have to be made in forming each word. By tmcing words slowly and laboriously in sand the movements are easily picked up.''

There we have a fair description of a subnormal child by one who has spent all his life caring for them, and he has also pointed out the problems that face these sub-normal children.

lUr. Low: How many sub-normal children are there~

lUr. COBURN: The hon. member for Cooroora asks how many sub-normals there are. All members will agree that that question is a most difficult one to answer, and I shall be scrupulously fair in an attempt to answer it. Overseas surveys indicate that about 1 per cent. of the population have less than a normal I.Q. Perhaps I may explain what is meant by I.Q. Those are the initial letters of ''Intelligence Quotient.'' The I.Q. is obtained by multiplying a child's mental age by 100 and dividing the result by his actual or chronological age. The mental age is arrived at by submitting the child to certain standardised intelligence tests. There is a number of different types of tests including the Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale, Raven's Progressive Matrices Test, 1938 Merrill Palmer Scale, 1'intnerPatterson Performance Scale, Kohs Block Design Schonell 's Vocabulary Test, etc. Those 'tests, all standardised and recognised by world psychologists, are the ones to which these children are submitted. The normal child is able to get a score of 100. Those whose score, when the mental age is multiplied by 100 and divided by the chronological age, is above 100 are the extra-bright children and those whose score is below 100 are the' sub-normal children.

Let us take the example of a child of eight with a mental age. of 10. We si:n:ply multiply 10 by 100, makmg 1000 and d1v1.de by eight getting 125. The I.Q. of that ch1ld is 125 which shows that he is a quarter above 'the normal average child. The child with a mental age of four, and an actual or chronological age of 10, is said to have an I.Q. of 40. That is a very low I.Q. That child would not be capable to any great extent of learning as the ordinary child in the school does and it would put him into the category of those well below normal. Organisations interested in the welfare of sub-normal children point out that this system is not a good one. What they are


principally concerned with is the average child's attainments, and that is something that is impossible with the sub-normal child.

In answer to the hon. member for Cooroora, the overseas statistics suggest that 1 per cent. of the population are subnonnal; that is that they have an I.Q. below 100. There is no census taken of sub-normal children, so the number must be more or less an estimate. It is understandable that the parents of sub-normal children are very reluctant to acknowledge that a child is subnormal. Probably most hon. members know of families in which there are sub-normal children whom parents hide away from the sight of visitors. They are more or less regarded as skeletons in the cupboard. That is a most regrettable attitude. It is more or less a selfish attitude; it is protecting the feelings of the mother rather than looking after the welfare of the child. Fortunately today the sub-normal child is regarded in a much different light to what he was in the nineteenth century when they were the idiots of the village and became the butt for everybody's jokes. Charles Dickens and other writers of that period tell us harrowing stories about the treatment that these people were subjected to.

ll'Ir. Lloyd: The position changed when Labour assumed office.

Mr. CO BURN: I am not concerned about who changed it or \Vhen it changed. I am happy that there has been an awakening of the social conscience and that the people have become more civilised and have adopted a more commonsense attitude to these unfortunate people. After all they are human beings and they are our responsibility, and we should do everything possible to see that the hest treatment is given to them. Whether it was the Labour Party who was responsible or some other party, it is hard to say. I do not care who was responsible for the change; I am concerned with what we are to do for them from now on. I must again quote from the report of the Very Rev. Brother McMahon on this matter. In Australia he is regarded as one of our experts. He says-

'' It comes as a surprise to most people when they hear that their number is considerable. The last census of mental defectives taken in England revealed that they formed 1 per cent. of the population. The figure for the United States is about the same. Applying this ratio here-and it seems likely that it would be about the same-we arrive at a rough estimate that the mentally defective proportion of the population of Australia amounts to about 90,000. ''

That does not mean that there are 90,000 who are ineducable; it means they are not up to the standard of the average or the normal whose I.Q. is regarded as 100.

The Rev. Brother McMahon continues-'' This is a staggering figure. This does

not include those who are mentally deranged. They fall into another category and are kept entirely separate in the English census.

''An I.Q. of 100 is theoretically the normal. The feeble-minded are those whose I.Q. ranges from 50 to 75, a half to three-qua1ters of the no1·mal. Imbeciles vary between 25 and 50 per cent., a quarter to half of normal.''

Imbecility varies between 25 and 50, or a quarter to half of the normal. Professor F. J. Schonell, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Queensland, is greatly interested in this problem. After discussing the in vcstiga tions over the years aucl reading the works of experts on this particular matter such as Burt, Dr. I"ewis and the Scottish Council for Educational Research, he expresses this view-

'' It would, therefore seem that if you are going to get a figure for the incidence of children and a.dults who are sub-normal with an I.Q. of 55 or less in the population it would work out at approximately .19 per cent. of the total population.''

From the statistician I got the population of Brisbane and working on the figure of .19 per c.ent. it calculated out at 950 sub-normal ehildren and adults, those below the 50 I.Q., in Brisbane. That would not only inelude children from six to 15 years of age but all the population, so a Tough estimate would be as reliable as any other. It works out that there are about 600 sub-normal children in the city of Brisbane with an I.Q. 50 or less. \Vhen \Ye cstima te there would he a bout 7 50 between the age of six and 15 with an I.Q. of 55 in Brisbane, in the whole of Queensland it means there are 1,500 between the ages of six and 15 with an I.Q. of 50 or less. That should satisfy the hon. member. Although these figures cannot be stated as definite, but remain an estimate, we c::m take them as being fairly accma te.

The Sub-normal Children's Welfare Association of New South Wales circulated a pamphlet on the subject giving an estimate of the number in the following words-

'' Eight thousand sub-normal children in New South Wales need your help.''

From that information we fin cl that the number of such children constitutes a problem that must he tackled. I am concerned mainly with the mental defectives whose I.Q. is below 55. To me it does not matter whether there are 1,000 or 3,000 of them. The important thing is that irrespective of the number that have to he looked after these are the ones we have to benefit if we possibly can.

The next logical question to ask is: What are we doing for these sub-normal children~ We are doing a little hut unfortunately not much. Since coming to Brisbane I have hac! the opportunity of visiting the Opportunity Schools at Dutton Park and in Fortitude Valley. The hon. member for that electorate was kind enough to give me a letter of introduction to the head mistress there.

A Government ~Iember: You were well received~

lUr. CO BURN: I was. There are opportunity classes at Bundaherg, Rockhampton


and Ipswich. I understand the children with very low I.Q. are sent to the mental institute at Sanely Gallop. The enrolments at Dutton Park and Fortitude Valley were 103 and 50 respectively. Knowing I was going to be among sub-normal children I felt it would be a very saddening experience but I came awa.y verr happy because of the splendid woTk I had seen being clone for these children. They are surTouncled by affection, treated with the gTeatest kindness and sympathy and they are being taught by expert teachers devoted to theiT work. I was agreeably surprised at the high standard of work that is being tmned out by these children who a.re regarded as sub-noTmal.

The childTen are placed in a class and remain in it until they can indicate that they aTe sufficiently advanced intellectually to pToceed to the next step. They do not care whether they are there for one, two, thTee OT fom yeaTs. Their chronological age is not taken into consideration; it is their mental advancement that counts, and the children are allowed to go at the pace that theiT intellectual capacity will allow them to go. It is just as sensible to pTick a snail with a pin to make it go faster as it is to try to push a kiddy along at a Tate at which it has not been mentally endowed to go.

It is the same in the physical world. Men like Bannister and Lancly can run a mile in 4 minutes. \Ve, too, can run a mile so long as we are given enough time. If they try to make us go faster than we are able without strain, some damage is done to us. In the same way, if we try to make these childTen go faster in their learning than they aTe capable of doing because of the mentality with which they have been endowed, we do irreparable harm to them. That is why the Opportunity Schools are doing an excellent job in letting the child get to its goal at the pace at which nature makes it possible for it to tTavel. They do get up to the scholaxship stanclaTd. Some of the handwork they do, such as pastei and hasketwoTk, is equal to any seen in any normal school.

Further, they are taught to opeTate together as a community. Before coming to these schools, they were only individuals without the community spirit. They are being taught good social habits. They go into the domestic science Toom and aTe taught cooking. The OTdinary child can light the gas without any trouble. These children have to he taught to light it and have to be taught it veTy laboriously because it is difficult, but they manage by going slowly.

The same thing happens when we go into the manual training TOOm wheTe they aTe being taught metal work, wood work and tin WOTk. Excellent woTk is being done and I have nothing hut pTaise for the depaTtment and the Minister foT ·what is being done there.

I find exactly the same conditions at Fortitude Valley. I found that both women in charge, Miss Sheehey and Miss Weller, were aclmiTahly suited for the work. They

had with them staffs who weTe just horn to do the type of work they were doing. They were patient, sympathetic and loving to the children. They did everything they could. They could not have clone moTe if they had been their own children.

JUr. Brosnan: They are the personification of patience and kindness.

.illr. CO BURN: They are. They have their own dances, folk dances and square dances. They have their singing classes, and it is very tuneful and haTmonious indeed.

The thing that struck me most was that theTe weTe 103 suh-noTmal children and they were more OTderly in their movement than the children in noTmal schools.

Up to this stage I haYe been c1ealing with the work clone in the two opportunity schools in Brisbane which I visited. In addition to them, there are homes that are being conducted by the Queensland Sub-Normal Children's Association where the \rork is On a yoluntary basis. I do not think these homes get any financial help from the Government; it is a work of love, their concern being the welfare of the childTcn. I met a member of one of the sub-normal chilclTen 's association at the }"orti tucle V alley Opportunity School and she with anotheT woman \l"as kind enough to take me across to Bowen Hills \\"here they had bought a property for £5,000. 'l'his property is being remodelled to make it a home fOT sub-normal children. It will he a clay school, no pTOYision being made foT boanlcrs. I understand that Professor Schonell is particulaTly inteTestecl in this \York and it will be linked up \Yith the lJniYersity and carried on to a ,-cTy large extent for Tesearch pur-poses. A good clcal o£ helpful knowledge might come from that. It will be a tremendous task bec·anse I understand that the home will take from 60 to 80 childTen. In New South \Vales the estimated cost of a child for a :year is £50, so with 60 to 80 children this home would need £4,000 a year to eany on, a yery big sum to be raised by a little committee.

This morning I \vent to Coorparoo and saw a. little occupational training centre established on the fTont and side verandas of a home made available to people who are yoluntruily working for the Suh-NDTmat Children's Association. The children at this home aTe of very low I.Q., but the people running the home find that even with that low mentality the children are able to perfonn little tasks with some help. Buttoning and unbuttoning which is quite simple to normal ehilrlTen is a pToblem to them, so also is putting food on spoons and thing"\ like that which we expect a normal child in the community to c1o. They are being taught to wr~sh nncl dress themselves, little tasks \Yhich are to a subnormal child very difficult. At this occupational centTe where there are only 10 OT 12 children they are teaching the chilr1Ten occupational therapy giving the chilrlren pleasure and at' the same time taking them ;nyay from the crll'e of their parents for a good number of hours each day. This is an important aspect of the


work. Hon. members can understand that a mother who has the care of an abnormal chihl in the waking hours of the day-say 16 out of ·24 hours-has her hands full because her child cannot do anything for itself, and needs maternal eare. This imposes a big strain mentally and physically on the mother.

JUr. Brosnan: The mother becomes virtually a slave.

lUr. CO BURN: And some suffer nervous breakdowns as a result. They become slaveo to their children as all good mothers would, and as a result, suffer. The taking away of sub-normal children and the care given them in these homes is a service not only to the children but the mother and other members of her family.

In New South Wales schools have been established at Stockton, Peat Island, Strathfield and Chatswood. The centres at Stockton and Peat Island are mental institutions. Most of what I have said up to the moment has been a preamble to what I really want to say. My appeal to this Parliament is on behalf of the children of this State with an I.Q. of 55 or below who virtually so far as we are concerned are untouchables. This is a task we should undertake, and the first thing we must be sure of is that the help we give them is effective, that we are not wasting our time.

At Glenfield, in New South Wales, there is a type of farm school where children of a low I.Q. are accommodated. I think there are about 115 to 120 of them. It was at one time in charge of a Dr. Phillips, a well-known psychologist. He subsequently became deputy principal of the Teachers' College, and finally principal. He lives at Vaucluse, and he tells the story that one morning when it was very wet he was waiting for a tram, and a big lorry drove up. The man in the cabin of the lorry said, "Would you like a lift to town~" He replied, "Yes, I would," and hastily got in alongside the driver. The driver looked at him and said, "You don't remember me?" The doctor said, "No, I can't say that I do.'' The driver said, ''I am Bill So-and-so.'' The doctor was astounded. He said, ''I never thought you would get to the stage where you would be able to drive a big lorry like this. For whom are you driving it~" The driver said, ''I am driving it for myself. I own this lorry as well as two others, and I pay men to drive them.'' Dr. Phillips told that story with a great deal of satisfaction, because the driver had gone through his school and had been regarded as ineducable. However, with proper care and training he had reached a stage where he not only drove his own lorry, but owned two others and paid men to drive them. We are told that from this Glenfield school there have come youths and men who have been able to take their places in factories, some doing competitive jobs and others doing such work as packing, and they have been able to hold their own with the other people employed in those places. That is an indication that these people whom we have previously thought to be of no use, if given a proper training in the hands of experienced people, can be

made not only useful members of society but can enjoy life to a much greater extent than if they had been neglected.

In 1951 the New South Wales Government sent a Miss Lamond to England to study work amongst sub-normal children over there. When she returned to Australia she published a report in which she said that it was quite illogical and quite wrong to imagine that sub-normal people have no place in society .. as an example, she pointed out that at Leeds, sub-normal people do all the laundry work for the Leeds Corporation. They are exceedingly happy, they are doing usef;tl work they feel that they have some plaee m the ~ommunity, and they are not objects of pity or scorn among their fellows. A.lthough it is not possible to learn the feelmgs of these people, they indicate to us by their animation and their demeanour that they are taking an interest in life and are deriving a deal of pleasure from what they are doing.

That is an example that could well be followed in our State. If I thought it was impossible to do anything in the training of these people, it would not be worth .while· making an appeal to people to become mterested in them. All the evidence, however, favours the opinion that they can be made· useful members of society. They can be gainfully occupied and they can be given an interest in life. After all they are human beings, and it is our duty to do everything we can for them. But we must remember always that their tempo must be slowed down. They are not the fast types. Nature has not endowed them with the mentality to allow them to go fast, but if given time they will get to a certain goal. Although they may not run so many courses in their lifetim.e because of the limitation of time, they can do certain courses, and useful courses. They can be occupied and thereb.Y derive a good deal of pleasure from theu lives.

Mr. Gair: We have had certain education inspectors who have said it was so much waste of time and money.

lUr. CO BURN: They have been proved wrong in some cases.

Mr. Gair: I have proved them wrong myself.

Mr. COBURN: Take the work of the Rev. Brother McMahon amongst sub-normals. Take also the work of Dr. Phillips and Miss Lamond at the W.A. Crowle Home at Ryde. They provide convincing evidence that we· can do something with these people, and not only that we can, but that we should do it.

Mr. Gair: Education is not restricted to· the University.

lUr. COBURN: No. Education is restricted to hum:an beings, and if we can do anything at all we should help them.

1\[r. Gair: According to their mental capacity.

Mr. Jesson: What happens when theY reach 16f


Mr. CO BURN: Thes·e people find a good deal of pleasure in doing the tasks which to the ordinary, normal person are more or less drudgery .. They do not mind getting up at 7 o'clock m the morning and milking the cows, at half past seven turning the separator and at 8 o'clock ·washing the dixif's. They like doing these things day after day. We ~~~d from experience that performing repetitive tasks day after day improves them in that work and they become useful.

The hon. member for Hinchinbrook is very concerned about when they come to the age of 16. I realise that difficulty too and I will deal with it later.

Mr. Heffron, the Minister for Education in New South Wales, like the Premier, has proved some of these experts to be wrong. He says-

' 'I arranged for teachers of the Education Department to conduct schools in the mental hospitals at Stockton, Watt Street and Peat Island. Quite a number of people disagreed with me in my decision but I felt that it was worthwhile to try because the State has a duty to these children to help them. The scheme has not worked out too badly. I am not at all disappointed ·with the result.

''The teacher at each of the schools at Stockton, Watt Street and Peat Island, is responsible for from 15 to 20 pupils who have sufficient mental endowment to enable them to receive instruction in reading and to profit from some form of educational training. When the work to which I have referred began at Peat Island, nine of the 15 pupils in the class there had no knowledge of reading or their knowledge of that subject was so rudimentary as to be discounted. The children had no idea of community spirit. They were unable to play games together and they lacked any knowledge of classroom routine.

"The first job of the teacher was to make a community of the group and this bas been accomplished. The children now work in groups or individually and look and act like a class in any normal school. They take pride in their handwork. In addition they are learning to read, to do number work, to write and to draw. These achievements have been accomplished in an institution where the inmates in the past have been regarded as ineducable. That accomplishment has been the result of the work of a sympathetic and intelligent teacher. The accomplishments to date are a notable landmark. They constitute high achievement in institutions in which some mentally weak and backward children have to be kept.

'''The authorities in charge of the mental hospitals speak highly of the work being done by the teachers and a request has been made for an extension of the education facilities.''

:illr. Gair: It depends on the teacher.

l.Ur. COBURN: It depends on the teacher. We have to fit our curriculum to the child instead of trying to fit the child to the

curriculum. I think that on the evidence I have produced from Mr. Heffron, Miss Lamond, the Rev. Brother McMahon and from the Crowle Home at Sydney that much can be done for those neglected 55 I.Q. 's and lower. As a short-time plan we should immediately subsidise all bona-fide subnormal children's welfare associations. These associations are doing excellent work; for them it is a labour of love. In many cases they feel it is a great financial strain, and they could concentrate on other avenues if they were helped financially. A long-range plan is to set up decentralised clinics for early training and speech therapy and also the setting-up of classes in occupational therapy. All children should be given some tasks, no matter how simple. They will do the simplest task hour after hour, and when they have finished something has been achieved; they have learned something.

JUr. Brosnan: They are very happy doing it.

lUr. CO BURN: Very happy. I think we should have training schools, residential or otherwise, where children who cannot derive benefit from orthodox schooling would have the opportunity to develop to the maximum of their ability. Finally, there should be farm centres where the mentally sub-normal can be provided with ideal sun-ounc1ings. Let me divide the work into three sections. We have the section from five ·or six years of age to the age of adolescence, which is the age the hon. member for Hinchinbrook is concerned about. All psychologists and teachers of the sub-normal are concerned about that period. The period from 15 to 18 is a difficult period because of the sex problem. We need the best kind of teachers, those who are sympathetic and understanding and who know their j'ob.

JU.r. Gair: It becomes more than a job; it is a vocation.

1\Ir. CO BURN: We have many people who are willing to do it. I have seen them here. I have visited opportunity schools and spastic schools and the Blind and Deaf Institution and I have seen people who are prepared to devote themselves to that work. That is a period during which we need an institution to house these people and care for them so that they do not become delinquents.

1\Ir. Gair: The Government plan to build a boarding school or hostel school at Y m·onga in order to give benefit to the children outside who will subsequently come in. The difficulty is to get accommodation. It is difficult enough to get accommodation for a normal child.

:illr. CO BURN: Those with the low I.Q.?

:i\Ir. Gair: Yes. We have to classify them. There are those of that standard who will have to be catered for somewhere else.

:i\Ir. COBUR.N: I am pleased to hear that. That is a great step. If you do that you will deserve the undying gratitude of many parents in this community. Those of us who have normal children have a lot to


be grateful for and we should show our gratitude by our attitude to those who are less fortunate.

lU:r. Gair: I will let you have a look through Mr. Lumsden 's report.

lUr. CO BURN: I am interested in every phase of this work. Education has been my life-long work. I cannot get away from the children because I have been so closely associated with them. We should have thess three different departments. After we have iinished with them at 18 years of age there should be farm schools where they could be employed to the best of their ability and advantage. I informed the hon. member for Isis that I intended to speak on this subject and he told me of an article that appeared in the Sydney ''Daily Telegraph'' of 11 October. I have had time only to look cursorily at it but it contains some very goocl information and I crave the indulgence of hon. members for a short time while I read it:-

'' Men and women from every State met in Victoria the other day to discuss a problem that is beginning to prick the social conscience of Australia.

''They were concerned with the often tragic fate of sub-normal childrenchildren who will never grow up, children who are given a variety of kind names like 'backward,' 'slow-learning,' or 'retarded.'

''In harsher words, they are mentally deficient and irremediably so.

' 'The occasion was a teachers' conference organised by the Australian Council of Organisations for Sub-Normal Childrenthe second interstate conference ever held on this subject in Australia.

''For only in the last few years has the pathetic plight of these children been recognised as of nation-wide importance.

''Only recently have the various private charitable centres seen the need to co-ordinate their activities, exchange views, and pool experience.

''People are only now beginning to heed the words of Professor F. J. Schonell, Dean of the Faculty of Education in the University of Queensland: 'Sub-normal children constitute the most neglected section of our youth. '

"In New South Wales alone there are 8,000 sub-normals, perhaps three or four times the number of spastic children.

''Of these a mere 350 ( 4,t per cent.) are cared for in one or other of the 14 private centres in Sydney and the country.

''Not long ago doctors and teachers were saying nothing could be done for these children. 'They '11 probably die at puberty,' the doctors shrugged hopelessly, ' They can never be cured.'

"They were partly right: Sub-normals are incurable. Their I.Qs. rarely higher than 55 will never approach the normal child's I.Q. of 90-110.

''Many of them will never read. Some will never mouth an intelligible word.

' 'But something can be done for them. That has now been proved. And modern drugs are keeping them alive much longer.

"Pay a visit to the W. A. Crowle Home at Ryde, one of the largest private schools affiliatecl to the Sub-Normal Children 's1 Welfare Association of New South Wales."

lUr. Gair: That would be similar to ours at Yeronga. Ours will be free.

IUr. CO BURN: This article proceeds-'' Here 111 'men tall:· handicapped'

children, including 20 boarders, are unclergoing special training-not to cure their minds but to occupy them, to try to stimulate those few stunted faculties that are capable of clevelopmont.

' 'They are pathetically eager to meet visitors, to grasp a strange hand, to be smiled at and praised.

''They are hungry for recognition. ''And if they get it they are radiantly

happy. They half-sense that they belong like anyone else.

''Yet when some of them iirst came to the school they were completely apathetic to everything; they seemed like totally incapacitated imbeciles.

''When I entered a classroom of the brighter children run by Miss Mary Lamond, of the Department of Education, I was amazecl at the activity.

''I hadn't expected to see sub-normal children doing basket work, sewing, and wooclwork, making rugs and papier-mache plates, and apparently deriving real satisfaction from it. But there they were.

"One boy of 13 ('but his mental age is only seven') rushed up to the visiting party and insisted on shaking hands with everv member.

''This was infectious and many others came to do the same.

''A little girl was at the blackboard. 'Draw man,' Miss Lamond told her. The girl eagerly set to work to depict me. 'Now put in man's glasse~,' said tha teacher.

''The result was intelligible, if not flattering.

''Only one of the 36 children in this 'superior' group (with I.Qs. of 30-35) was unable to speak. 'He could,' said Miss Lamond, 'if they didn't pamper him at home.'

''Here is the rub. The home background can make or mar a child.

''The good done after years of pa~ient observation in school can often be w1ped out in a few hours by an unhappy or uncomprehenc1ing family.

''A recent Queensland survey showecl that about three-quarters of all sub-normal children had home backgrounds which were in some way cletrimental to their school training-a spoiling mother, a drunken father, a teasing brother or sister.

"Learning social adaptability can be difficult enough for normal children when their parents as often fail to understand their emotional and intellectual needs.''


''The rest of the children in the Crow le Rome are divided into six classes, including one senior boys' and one senior girls' class for children over the age of puberty.

''There is a brain-injured group which is normally segregated in padlocked enclosures, not because these are dangerous, but to stop an:'one who might try to run away.

''The children play in large outdoor playpens, well equipped with swings and toys.

''In other playpens are the nursery group with children from H to 7 (mental age about 18 months). They are unable to talk, but play with dolls' houses and building blocks.

''The older, kindergarten group (up to nine) are taught to play various simple games.

''Like nearly all sub-normal children who are not too hopelessly handicapped they love dressing up and even stage acting. Group work of this type is proving increasingly helpful.

''Perhaps the most tragic sight of all are the seniors-the Peter Pans, the 'permanent children'.

''I saw a child of 42 playing with blocks. Next to her sat Jean, with a chronological age of 34, but a mental age of less than 10. Jean had greying hair and was doing some kind of crude needlework.

"When not working she skipped and played with children born decades after her.

''In the boys' senior class was Alan, also 34, with a fast balding head. He was sewing a hessian sack.

'' 'T~at.'s very good, Alan ', I said, "Who 1s 1t for~"

'' 'For my mother', he said. 'Her birthday,' And he gave a broad benign grin.

''The star of this class is a boy who can operate a small printing machine. He even goes to the 'l'eehnical College by himself to have reading exercises.

''But usually the more 'educable' children are sent to 'special opportunity classes' in the public schools. A few sell their work-but they will never be able to take a job.

''What happens to the 95~ per cent. of sub-normal children for whom the existing schools, struggling to make ends meet against great financial odds, have no room~

''And since the schools rarely accept children over 12, what happens to them when they grow 'older'~

''These and many more burning problems were discussed in Melbourne.

''Until the schools, who depend for thAir funds largely on charity, obtain some form of State aid, there seems little chance that they will ever be able to increase their numbers appreciably.''

I do want to make an appeal on behalf of those children for whom we can do something. I am sure we have many sympathetic members in the Government. I know the Premier himself has a soft spot for children. They indicated that to me when I went

to the Opportunity School at Dutton Park. Those at Fortitude Valley also have a soft spot for their member who greets them with lollies and gives them little tit-bits now and again. vVe have a number of men who are sympathetic enough to realise that this has been a forgotten group for whom we must do something, and the sooner we start doing it the better.

Mr. Gair: Some people advocate their destruction because they have no economic value.

Mr. CO BURN: But that is not a fair argument, is it~

l\'Ir. Gair: But it has been advanced by well-known people, some of whom have been knighted.

l\'Ir. CO BURN: That is too materialistic for anything.

The group for whom I am appealing is the group with the 55 and lower I.Q. Those in the Opportunity Schools are being taken care of and the spastics are being taken care of. One could not see finer work than that being done at the Blind and Deaf Institute. It is a pleasure to see the work they do, and the splendid spirit that exists between the pupil and the teacher. There is nothing but kindness on every hand. We have just that group for whom we have not catered, the untouchables so far as our efforts have been concerned. Now that we have our minds focussed on them, now that the spotlight has been thrown upon them, perhaps in the future they will not be looked upon as a group for whom nothing can be done and that we shall do something along the lines of what has been done in other States.

I leave it with the hon. members, secure in the knowledge that their kindliness of heart and humanitarian outlook will not allow them to neglect this group any longer. The mothers are the sufferers. I understand that in Victoria the Sub-Normal Children's Association has holiday camps where they take the sub-normal children so that the mothers and other normal members of the families may go away for a holiday for a week or fortnight.

Mr. Gair: An excellent contribution.

(Time expired.)

Mr. SPARKES (Aubigny) (7.45 p.m.): I regret to say that a man holding such an important position as the Premier of the State should take the opportunity of making a very sarcastic reply to a question directed to him. We all appreciate that when we ask a question which has something of a political nature attaching to it we can expect a cutting reply and I do not think that any member of this side of the Committee takes exception to that if there is an attempt to gain politically from a question. The question I addressed to the Premier yesterday was simply one asking if we might know at what time the business of the House would conclude on a Friday. As the Whip of the Opposition naturally hon. members of my party come to me and say, ''What is doing~ What train can I get back home~"


Virtually every member on this side of the .Committee lives in his .electorate, some, hundreds of miles from Brisbane. I do not think the reply of the Premier was in the best interests of Parliament and I am surprised that he should think that it was not our desire to have a full attendance of members on the occasion of any debate. About a fortnight ago, on a Thursday, we were supposed to finish the business of the House at 10 minutes to 4. At that hour we were told that we must go on until 4 p.m. I had told hon. members of my party of this. I personally might have said that I would call at Oakey at 8 o'clock but if we were obliged to sit on until half past 5 it would make my position difficult because it is over lOO miles from here to Oakey. In that case I would have to ring up and tell the people whom I was to meet that I could not get there.

Mr. Gair: I have had to cancel appoint~ ments because of my duties.

Mr. SPARKES: Nobody is taking exception to that.

Itfr. Gair: Then what are you complaining about~

Mr. SP ARKES: I am asking that we should have some idea when the business of the House is likely to finish on a Friday. If the Premier had simply said in reply to my question, ''I am sorry I cannot do it,'' everything would have been all right. There was no reason to bring in personalities. After all the Premier of this State is a very important man and we respect him. He is entitled to that respect but if the hon. gentleman seeks to get down to trivial little things as he did, one cannot expect people to think as much of him as they should. Last Friday we were told that we would finish up with the Legal Practitioners Acts Amendment Bill and that went through at 4.20 p.m. I had told members of my party that we would :finish on that Bill. At 4.20 we went on to deal with the Magistrates Courts Acts Amendment Bill and finally finished at 5.25 p.m. I have no objection to the time of concluding business so long as we know. I think I am entitled to know that.

Mr. Gair: The Leader of the Opposition discussed the matter with me and I said that when we got rid of that Bill we would close up.

Mr. SPARKES: The Leader of the Opposii:_ion wanted to know if we were going on and the Premier said, "Yes." He cannot make· trouble over on this side of the Chamber no matter how much he might have on his own. I just wanted to clear the matter up. If I make a comment upon, say, the meat industry I am quite happy to take all that is coming to me.

Itir. Power: You got a bit too, didn't you~

Mr. SP ARKES: I think so, and I can take it with the next one. I am quite happy to take it.

Now that the Attorney-General has come into the matter, let me deal with him. He ~s another man for whom I have very great respect. I look upon him as a personal friend. He knows that whatever my faults may be, being nice to his face and talking about him behind his back is not one of them. I have criticised both him and the Premier on the meat question, because they have made a perfect hash of it. It is a bungle from start to :finish, and the AttorneyGeneral knows it. It is no use being con· ceited about it. Big men are never conceited, there is no need for them to be. Their actions speak for them. It takes a big man to admit that he is wrong and they are few and far between.

The Attorney-General has been very badly advised. He went to the trouble of having a man sent down to Cannon Hill to cheek up on what happened to my cattle.

Mr. Power: No.

Mr. 1SP ARKES: Yes. Mr. Power: He goes down every day.

Itir. SPARKES: I would not know Mr. Russell if he walked into this Chamber. His nickname is ''Slimy'' Russell. He came back and reported to Mr. Fullagar and the Attorney-General, and led them right up the garden path. The :first indication I got of what was happening was the AttorneyGeneral's statement that I was on the platform with the auctioneer.

Mr. Power: And so you were.

Mr. SP ARKES: Where on earth else would I bef This is the bad advice that the hon. gentleman gets. On the platform is the correct place for me to be. Mr. Fullagar was very surprised when I told him that. He said, ''They don't all go up there.'' Of course they do not. How many men attend the sales of their cattle~ Very few of them do. I said to Mr. Fullagar, "You have to be there because you might decide not to sell your cattle." Mr. Fullagar said, "You put a reserve on them," once again showing his complete ignorance of the industry. Not one man in a thousand puts a reserve on his cattle when they go to Cannon Hill.

It[r. Evans: What could you do with them if you did~

Mr. SPARKES: That is the whole point. If you do not get up on the platform you have to get down among the buyers, and they take strong exception to that.

Let us see how low hon. members opposite get in their criticism. The Attorney-General -and he was aided and abetted by th2 Treasurer-said, ''Your cattle brought only £8 a 100 lb.,'' and he held up the ''Country Life'' reports. I checked with my agent and found that "Country Life" gets its reports from an employee of the Queensland Meat Industry Board, and that he and Mr. Russell had got together. What did they do~ This will show how low people in Parliament will stoop to get square. They gave the prices of the calves and the weights


of the yearlings. Just work it out for yourselves. The calves brought £29 and the yearlings £44 17s. 6d., but if you put the weight of the yearling alongside the price of the calf, as they cleverly did here, ho looks very cheap and very poor. I have the figures here and I can show them to the Attorney-General.

Not satisfied with that, Mr. Clark, but to try to get something back on me they gave the price of the calf's mother at £20-odd, forgetting that the fat cows brought £44. They purposely forgot that, but they put in the weight of the cow that brought £44. What ingenious chaps they were!

Mr. Aikens: What do they call this fellow~

Mr. SPARKES: Slimy Russell. To make it better, and really good workmanship, they gave the price of the bullocks as £58, when they actually brought £59. This was to get squa.re on somebody who ha.s condemned

price fixing and controls. The AttorneyGeneral knows that he could not bring files into the Chamber to show that I had asked him to impose controls and price fixing.

I give those facts to show what we are getting down to. I have an issue of "Country Life" here. The hon. gentleman has never brought this into the Chamber and read it out. He and Mr. Fullagar would say, "No, we did not see this.'' That is what they would probably tell you, but here it is in black and white.

Mr. Power: We quoted from a reliable paper.

lUr. SP ARKES: After they fixed the figures, they quoted from it. This is the paper's reply-

'' An error in calculating tabulated figures showing the estimated value on a dressed weight basis of the Lyndley yearling beef sold at Cannon Hill last week made it appear that the yearlings made £8 per 100. Actually they made slightly over £10 per 100. ''

You will recall, Mr. Clark, that in this Chamber the Minister said, ''He thought he was going to get £10, and he got only £8."

Mr. Evans: Slimy is not too reliable.

Mr. SPARKES: These weights have been given since the cattle were killed. The paper goes on-

'' The Prices Minister (Mr. Power) seized on the incorrect figure to try to injure Mr. Sparkes by suggesting in Parliament that the cattle were not of high standard. To anybody knowing Lyndley cattle, the gibe was pointless and merely served to emphasise once again how little the Minister knows about the meat trade.''

Mr. Aikens: He does not know very much about anything.

1\Ir. SPARKES: That cleans up a little matter. One thing surprised me, as well as many other cattlemen and people generally. Some weeks ago action was taken, or was supposed to be taken, against the freezers. All

the papers were prepared and the freezers were going to be dealt with. But no action has been taken. The weeks are going on, and there is still no action against the freezers. Is it that the Government are not game enough to take action against the freezers~

Mr. Aikens: You read where the A.M.I.E. Union was heavily fined.

llfr. SPARKES: They are not game enough to take action. Did the AttorneyGeneral say, "Peddle it lightly; let one of the other works take action. Why should we take action~'' It is very smelly to me. (Opposition laughter.) It does not seem at all clean. We are still waiting and still there is no action. Why~ Cannot someone tell me. I want to learn. I am after information. Not a word is said. (Laughter.) They are frozen; they are worse than the beef. (Opposition laughter.)

Mr. Aikens: What do you suggest should be done to the freezers~

Mr. SPARKES: I am not the Court, nor am I the Government. It is a matter for the Court. If the hon. gentleman must know, I take this view: If men decide to strike the work should go on but the dispute should be heard and if the men prove they are right they should be paid right back to the time it started. I do oppose any stoppage of work. I do not think there is -a member in this Chamber who was not concerned with what took place a week ago. No-one wants to see that happen again.

The Attorney-General threatened to come and take our cattle. We have yet to see the Attorney-General or the Premier come up to get them. I will supply the AttorneyGeneral with a good horse.

Mr. Dewar: I will make him a saddle.

Mr. SPARKES: And it will not be branded. (Laughter.) It 1vill not be branded until after the hon. gentleman has finished riding in it. (Laughter.) The wise people in the days gone by were responsible for Section 92 of the Commonwealth Constitution, and they have been cursed by some people for putting it in. That section does not permit the Government to come and get those cattle.

Mr. Aikens: They can get them as long as they do not take them out of the State.

Mr. SPARKES: They would probably be going out of the State when the Government came to get them. The hon. gentleman says ''We will make them supply a quota of beef.'' I ask the hon. gentleman to be a little realistic. Would any hon. member in this Chamber suggest that any one should pay £8 a 100 lb. for beef and sell it for £6. Would any fair-minded man suggest that a person should do that~ That is what the Government's suggestion amounts to. I know a good many wholesalers, such as Swifts and Playfairs, and I have the greatest respect for them. I have dealt with them for just on 40 years and I have never had any


trouble with them. Their word was their bond. You are asking these men to do the impossible; and that cannot be done.

lUr. Aikens: The Attorney-General accused some of them of shady practices.

Mr. SP ARKES: What will a man do if he has to sell something at £6 when he has paid £8 for it? Will he not get into some ~had.r practice~. Are you not forcing him mto 1t~ That 1s what you are doing. He says, ''A quota of beef.'' He does not say any particular type. I shall point out to the Attorney-General how ridiculous the whole thing would be if he attempted to enforce it. A wholesaler may buy 1,000 head in a week; 500 or 600 is quite common. He buys 400 or 500 head and has to supply the quota. He buys something that costs him about £5 a head. That is how the quota is filled. What is to stop him~

Mr. Aikens: Providence.

Mr. 1SPARKES: The hon. gentleman will not play ball with me at all.

lUr. Aikens: He is treating you with silent contempt.

Mr. SPARKES: The alternative would be for the Minister to confer with his brother Minister who administers the aboriginal settlement and ask him if he has some fat bullocks to send them along to him and he will give him £6 instead of £8 a 100 lb. That is the only alternative. The correct alternative is to release control and let the people have the meat they want. That is what the hon. member should do.

A Government Jliember: And we would be eating shinned beef.

llir. SP ARKES: The hon. member would be eating bull beef which is a darned sight worse because of stupid controls. I returned from Sydney on Tuesday and there lamb is selling cheaper than steak. Lamb is free on the market and steak is controlled. Those there to whom I spoke said they could reduce further the price as stock became available. That is the sensible thing. However, the Attorney-General has only the one idea-he wants to get something cheap.

Jlir. Aikens: What happened to pig meat when it was decontrolled?

lUr. SP ARKES: It went down.

Mr. Aikens: Like hell it did.

Mr. SP ARKES: It fell considerably. It fell considerably at the last sale.

Mr. Aikens: It is still twice as high as the controlled price.

Mr. SPARKES: As the Attorney-General will not play ball with me I will try the hon. member for Somerset. (Laughter.) I have the greatest respect for the hon. member. So that there will be no misunderstanding, if he interjects I will not say to him what he said to me-'' Keep quiet,'' ''Shut up.'' The hon. member can interject as much as he likes and I will be happy to hear him. I want someone to play ball with me. The hon. member for Somerset was defending

price control. He said the cattle men in his electorate were quite happy. If there is one ea ttle man who prefers to sell his cattle for £6 a 100 lb. when he can get £8 a 100 lb. I should like to see him. I do not know of any such man in the cattle industry. If there is, he should be in a mental hospital. The hon. member for Somerset now does not want to play ball with me. I ask him if he believes in price control as it applies to beef in Brisbane today. It is no use his nodding his head up and down. He should ansvver ''Yes'' or ''No.''

Tlte CHAIRl\IAN: Order!

Mr. SP ARKES: The hon. member is not nodding his head in acceptance. If he did I should accept it quick and lively. Is the hon. member thinking of how to get out of itt He said and I quote-

'' The farmers in my electorate are overjoyed and have asked me to convey to the Government their appreciation of what they have done.''

I ask the hon. member if any of them are overjoyed at not being able to use their own trucks to cart their own produce for a distance of over 15 miles. I have farmers in my electorate and I think they would be of a similar type to those in his electorate, and I have yet to meet one who has been happy about not being able to use his own truck to ca.rt his own fodder unless he paid a special fee. Can the hon. member say they are overjoyed about it~ He does not answer. Some of the younger hon. members have suggested that silence means consent.

Again, are these farmers appreciative of the increased registration fees f,or their motorcars~ If a farmer who owns an old blitz wagon that is supposed to carry from 8 to 10 tons buys a tiny calf and wants to take it home in his blitz wagon he is required to pay 3d. per ton per mile for the whcl<" 10 ton that the truck is capable of carrying, and the calf would not weigh more than 120 lb. How overjoyed the farmers must be!

Mr. Pizzey: And the hon. member for Somerset approves of that.

l\Ir. SPARKES: He does. I should like to meet some of the farmers who are so happy at having to do these things. I should. also like to meet the cattle man who wants to sell his bullocks for £6 a 100 lb. instead of £8 a 100 lb.

Then the hon. member made a great song about lucerne, and he can come in on this without risk of losing his political head. After all, he might as well lose it decently because he will lose it the other way if he does not. He cannot sit on the fence without getting a very sore seat. I know the Barker's Creek area well. I have land very close to it. As a matter of fact, I have an interest in land that is almost in his electorate. I do not think there would be 100 cattle f.attened on a mixed pasture of grasses and lucerne in the Somerset electorate. Again the hon. member seems to be struck dumb, and I am sorry for him. I should like to meet some of these people. No matter how long one lives, onf'


can always leam, and if this sort of thing is going on, I should like to know about it.

ltlr. Aikens: Would you like to meet Slimy Russell ~

:illr. SP ARI{ES: Not in the dark. If the hon. member for Somerset can bring along any fan;1er who is at all pleased with any of these tlnngs, I shall be glad to meet him. On this side we have the hon. member for ·warwick, who is chairman of the Queensland Dairymen's Organisation. I asked him if any of the members of that organisation arc showing any great enjoyment at the~e things and he wanted to know if I wns quite well,, or if I had gone mad. That was his reply to me.

I now wish to bring before this Committee a matter that demands the attention of the Government. Unfortunately, my friend the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock is not in the Chamber. I have not had the opportunity of discussing the matter fully with him. I draw attention to the cruel methods adopted at the Cannon Hill saleyards and how those yards are conducted. There we have I suppose the biggest saleyards for cattle in Australia and we have the worst methods of dealing with the cattle that exist anywhere I have attended. It was my good fortune to visit the Chicago cattle saleyarcls on two occasions. On the first occasion 11,000 cattle were in the yards and on the next clay 13,000 head. I never saw one dog, one whip, not one beast getting out of a walk, and not one beast slipped over. At Cannon Hill it is almost impossible for a human being to keep his feet in the wet. When cattle come into the yards they inevitably make water. These remarks are addressed to the Secretary for Agriculture and Stock. Hon. members opposite might think that this is a joke, but Mr. Clark, I say that some thousands of pounds in weight are lost annually at the Cannon Hill saleyards through the utter neglect of stock in those yards. It is a crying shame that good meat is reduced to a useless state and lost to the consuming public through the atrocious nature of the yards. A fortnight ago we had bullocks in the yard and one besat in a pen of bullocks that brought £59 slipped over and broke his leg. The method of removing him would make one's hair stand on end. If any hon. member should think that I am stretching it a bit he should get in touch with the stock inspector who I am sure agrees with what I have said. Not only did I lose £59 for the bullock but--

lUr. Aikens: How did they remove the bullock?

lUr. SP ARKES: I should hate to tell the Committee. It was crude and cruel; the method was absolutely putrid. A contract is let to a person to remove these cattle. I am not accusing the Government. The only thing done to the yards to stop them from being slippery was clone at my request when Mr. Bulcock was Secretary fol' Agriculture and Stock. This matter wants attention. There were probably 800 or 900 lb. of beef lost because this bullock was bruised and knocked about and the meat was

useless for human consumption. That is only one instance. I have seen dozens and dozens of cattle slip down from time to time and if" anyone goes to Cannon Hill any day of the week he will see beasts slipping clown. This is a Government institution and surely something can be clone to stop this state of affairs. There is a cry for meat and yet the Government permit this sort of thing to go on.

lUr. Aikens: What do you suggest?

:ilir. SP ARKES: I suggest, because of the cruelty, that a full investigation be made by a commission which could go into the whole of the workings of the Cannon Hill saleyards and make recommendations to be placed before this Chamber. This may sound very funny to people ·who are not interested or who are ignorant, but there is nothing funny about it. It is a matter that should be attended to. It is a disgrace. Men keep their cattle quiet and truck them quietly, and they are brought clown into a slippery yard where they can easily fall.

llir. Aikens: There is never anything funny about an injured beast.

Mr. SPARKES: I quite agree with the hon. member. There is not.

The stock inspector said to me, "Did you see your bullock?'' I said, ''I don't want to see it.'' It is like having a knife stuck iuto my body for me to see a dumb animal being treatell cruelly. The matter should have immediate attention.

The hon. member for Norman, another member for whom I have the greatest respect, told us all about what the Government were doing for the primary producer. He quoted rail freights and pointed out what it cost to bring cattle to Brisbane. It works out at about £3 a head on bullocks. I asked him how much a head it was, but he would not know whether a '' K'' wagon carried one bullock or 20. He made a great song about how cheaply produce is brought into Brisbane. Why is that~ It is only to give the people of Brisbane something to eat. Then the hon. member said, ''Look how much it costs to· ,send merchandise out into the country.'' Who· in the name of God pays for it when it goes out into the country~ The hon. member for "Walkabout"-! am referring to the hon. member for Cook-said it was a terrible thing that it should cost £29 a ton to transport goods to cattle stations in the Far North, yet the hon. member for Norman talks about the fair deal that the primary producer is getting .. It is very refreshing to hear these different points of view. One man comes form the Far North and is interested in cattle properties, whereas the other man might possibly have a chicken farm. All this talk about helping the producer with low freights is moonshine. They are not low at all. A man can travel from Dalby by train for what it costs to send a bullock ..

:illr. Aikens: How can you expect members of the Government to understand you when half of them have never been further away from Brisbane than Sandgate or ManlyW

':734 Supply. [ASSEMBLY.] Supply.

Mr. rSPARKES: I always believe in having a go at anything. I have hopes that I might make them understand.

A lot was said about the ordering of railway trucks, However, if a businessman tried to get away with what the Railway Department does, the Government would be onto him very quickly. If I order 12 K wagons and a KB to load on 10 November, which is well ahead, and tomorrow I say, ''I am sorry. I find now that I have mustered those cattle that I will have only 4Jnough for 10 K-wagons and a KB, and I want to cancel two trucks,'' although they have never left the yard they charge me £12 for cancelling them. I believe it is quite right to make a charge for trucks which go out and are not loaded. I can see the trouble which could be caused. One man could order all the trucks and not use them and make a short market.

Mr. Aikens: You should know how many fats you are ready to truck.

Mr. SPARKES: If you cancel a truck the day it goes out there, well and good, but if you give a fortnight or three weeks' notice that you do not want trucks, surely you should not be charged £12. I look upon it as an aboslute racket. If a private individual did it he would be taken to task immediately.

The supply of meat varies according to droughts and other things. The other day the Treasurer quoted one meat man as saying ''It won't be long before we have plenty of meat, " but there is still a drought in New South Wales and it is becoming more intense every day. Beef brought over £10 a 100 lb. in Sydney on Monday. How can _you expect to get good meat here for £6 a 100 lb. when £10 is paid somewhere else~ Surely it is time the hon. gentleman took a realistic view and was big enough to admit that he made a mistake. He would jump up in everybody's estimation if he said, "I see the point," instead of going on with the stupidity which is gone on with now. He knows that I believe it and that I am sincere when I say that the one thing that ·controls price is the law of supply and demand. We cannot get away from it. Until we get sufficient cattle coming into the yards to cope with the demand the price is going to be high. If there is good rain throughout New South Wales and other beef-producing places, the price of meat will come down and nothing that anybody can do will put H up.

Mr. Aikens: You tamper with the supply in order to inflate the demand.

Mr. SP ARKES: The hon. member makes a stupid interjection. The Premier went into print by saying, "Look at the increase in cattle when I exposed the cattlemen.'' What more conceited statement could anyone make than thaU What in the name of God do you think we care, Mr. Clark, whether he exposes us or not, if we want to keep our cattle~ I speak for every cattleman in this State in asking whether you think for a moment that we would take any notice of the

Premier's saying we were holding, if we thought we could get £10 a 100 lb. for our cattle in a month's time. I would hold, and so would everybody else.

An Opposition Member: They did the same with Peak Downs.

~Ir. SPARKES: Of course they did. They sold their beef on the open market. I give them all credit; that is the business way. Why compel the other fellow to do something that is not the business way~ There were no cattle being held back; none whatever. Nobody but a lunatic would hold his cattle back at the price per hundred. Any man who can get £8 a 100 lb. for cattle and holds them back should be up in Goodna. Unfortunately, many men have rushed their cattle in before they were ready for the market in an endeavour to get the high prices ruling. Do you think that I would send 300 or 400 cattle in here if I thought I could get more~ I know the hon. gentleman does not think so. I believe in profits. If there is any hon. member on the other side who does not, let him give me his salary.

An Opposition Member: They agree with you.

Mr. SPARKES: Of course they do. It is profit-the inducement to gain more that keeps the world going. That is why the hon. gentleman is sitting on the front bench -because he gets a higher salary by doing so. I give him full credit. The hon. gentleman wants to better himself. So does everybody else. What builds the world but incentive to improve. That is why men work. I give all credit to the man who works. I believe in incentive payments; and I carry out my belief. I think if a man does more he should be given an incentive to do better still. Surely to God there is not a man here or anywhere else who would say, ''I do not want to be any better off than I am today." Not one. You can see them at Albion Park. What do they go there for 7 They are impelled by the stupid idea that they are going to get a little wealthier, but in reality they improve the lot of the bookmakers. I do make this appeal to the Treasurer. We all know that none of us likes to pay income tax. I am never happy about paying it. I am not a hypocrite; I am never happy about paying it. An hon. member on the Government side interjected about when you touch a person's pocket. When you touch a person's pocket you get mighty close to his heart. Very few people like paying income tax. You have to make the money before you pay the tax; at least it has that virtue, if you eau call it such. I look upon the Treasurer as a friend.

Mr. Aikens: What is going on here? (Laughter.)

lUr. SPARKES: Mr. Clark, this Parliament would be a hundred per cent. better if we could talk over our differences without getting personal, dirty and nasty and trying to injure people as we do here sometimes. I will hit them as hard as I can and I do not mind being hit back. If I go to

Supply. (14 OCTOBER.] Supply. 736

the Treasurer with a request from my electorate, it may be from the Shire Council, and I place such request before him, it does not necessarily follow that I agree with the request. I merely make the request on behalf of my people. It is immaterial to me who asked me to make the request. If a blackfellow of my electorate asked me to do something I would take it to the right quarter and try to have it fixed up. Politics or anything else do not come into it. I took to the Treasurer a request from my shire in regard to certain matters. I did not agree with it but I placed the request before the hon. gentleman. It was my duty to do it. The hon. gentleman could then make his decision. Why should I have that thrown up at meW I make this appeal on behalf of every hon. member in this House. How would the Minister or anybody else who has business with a banker like that banker to tell somebody else about his position in that bank. That is something sacred between the client and the banker. I say in all fairness that such matters should be kept entirely out of this Chamber and I hope I will never see anything like that occur again.

Mr. Aikens: Who is he ~

Mr. SPARKES: My adopted member, the hon. member for Carpentaria. I have the greatest respect for the hon. member. He can stay at my place any week-end. Surely if the Government must have these adopted members, at least let them place them on the same footing as ordinary members. I do not care what members they are, whether they be communist or what. A member represents his electorate and should be given the right to do that the same as any other member.

No-one likes paying income tax but at least one has made the income before he has to pay ineome tax. As to land tax one can be in debt, but he has to pay. He may have incurred a loss. I can give an instance of this. One property lost nearly 5,000 sheep in a drought in one year. This property was called on to pay approximately £28,000 in land tax. It is useless for the Treasurer to shake his head. I do not make statements without being sure of them. I spoke to a former Premier of this State, the late Hon. W. Forgan Smith and he asked, ''These people, are they paupers~'' I said, ''They are not paupers.'' ''I presume they can borrow the money,'' said Mr. Smith. I replied, ''Yes,'' and his response was, ''Then they have got to pay.'' Land tax is a damnable tax and should be removed. My friend, the hon. member for Isis, draws attention to the high valuations. When the Bill was going through this Chamber providing for the appointment of a Valuer-General for the State the Secretary for Public Works and Housing said what a good thing it would be as there would then be only one valuer and there would be no trouble. At the time I said, ''This is only another method of increasing land tax." He said, "What rot! What stupidity the hon. member for Aubigny utters! '' I ask him if it has made any difference to our land tax. At least he can shake his head, although I do not know

how he can do that when he represents an electorate like Carnarvon near the Darling Downs. When the revaluation takes effect there, land tax will be nearly double what it is today. The hon. member for Fassifern said that where he once paid £10 he is now required to pay £300. The Treasurer knows what I said about him the other day. I stated then that he is getting more than he knows what to do with and he is still squealing. He should be more tolerant. He should not want to penalise these people, especially when I point out that there will not be one farmer on the Da.rling Downs with 250 acres who will escape land tax. I should like to see the Treasurer abolish it altogether just as I should like to see his colleague abolish price control so that the, people may have meat to eat. What is the good of price control if one cannot buy anything to eat~ It is not worth a tinker's curse because, as the hon. member for Mt. Coot-tha says, all one can buy is shin, and he says the bone is no good. The people want meat and they should be allowed to buy it. They should be given the right to buy and we should have the right to supply on a normal market.

If the Treasurer cannot abolish land tax altogether then at least I ask him to grant a fair exemption. The exemption could be, increased 10 times without doing any harm and I ask him to follow the lead set by the Commonwealth Government the very people whom he always condemns. They abolished land tax altogether. I appeal to the hon. member for Somerset and others who represent country interests to follow the lead set by this Commonwealth Government whom they are always attacking and abolish land tax. If the Treasurer does that, I shall be, happy to subscribe towards the cost of a monument to him.

Mr. S~IITH (Carpentaria) (8.44 p.m.) : I represent a remote area that requires a great deal of Government expenditure. I know that my Government are desirous of spending a good deal of money there, but the unsympathetic attitude of the MenziesFadden Government at Canberra and their lack of interest in this State caused them to, refuse to help us as they should. What little money has been made available has been allocated equally throughout the State by this Government for building works, local authorities, and main roads. As hon. member for Carpentaria I have no complaint to make to the Treasurer about the Government's allocation to semi-Government departments in my electorate. If a knowledge of the State was taken into consideration by the, Federal Treasurer more money would be allocated to the State and we would be able to get along better than we are doing at present. Funds are made available to, instrumentalities such as charitable institutions, the Bush Children's Health Scheme and the Flying Doctor Service and a subsidy is given on the carriage of fish to inland centres. The Bush Children's Health Scheme· is of great benefit to the children out back and this year the Government are making an allocation of nearly £10,000 to it. We know


of the good work done under it for the ·children of the far-flung areas of the West and also for adults. The Government are allocating this year well over £500,000 to .charitable institutions; in my electorate a lot of money will be available for charitable purposes. We are all aware of the marvellous deeds accomplished by the Flying Doctor Service and to it this year the Treasurer has allocated about £30,000. The service is a means of giving security to the people of the West. I propose to say something on this important matter particularly because of recent happenings. The death of the late Mr. Norman Bourke is to be regretted as he was one of the pioneers in the early stages of the formation of the Flying Doctor Service. A man with a lesser knowledge of and I feel with lesser sympathy for the Flying Doctor Service is Mr. Russell Roberts--

Mr. H. B. Taylor: He is doing a great job.

Mr. SlliiTH: He is not doing a great job, as I will show. In the early days of the service it worked in conjunction with Q.A.N.T.A.S. commercial aviation service in the West. Q.A.N.T.A.S. made available its pilots, technicians, mechanics and planes and when it was absorbed by T.A.A. the same procedure was followed. When Mr. Russell Roberts became chairman of the Flying Doctor Service he had other ideas and decided to break away from T.A.A. He turned down the Drover aircraft supplied by T.A.A. and bought an obsolete machine, that had crashed two or three times previously from Char lie Russell, of Dalby. The whole thing needs investigation. Mr. Russell R.oberts bought this single-engine aircraft--

Mr. H. B. Taylor: Are you suggesting that he bought it on his own initiative~

Mr. SMITH: I am saying that to my knowledge and according to my information there was no technical or expert investigation made of this machine. He based this aircraft on Cloncurry to serve the northern part .of the State.

lUr. H. B. Taylor: It is obvious that your knowledge is limited.

Mr. SMITH: Let the hon. member wait until I have :finished. I was saying that Mr. Russell R.oberts broke away from T.A.A. and refused to allow the technicians and engineers of T.A.A. at Cloncurry to service the plane. The single-engine aircraft that he bought was not equipped with wireless; it had no means of communicating with the ·Civil Aviation Department at Cloncurry, or with the R.A.A.F. at Townsville. If it had been equipped with wireless, the money that it cost to send Lincoln bombers searching for it when it crashed would have been saved. ·Ordinarily, when the Flying Doctor plane takes off from Cloncurry it immediately communicates by radio with the R..A.A.F. station at Garbutt, and once every half hour it radios its position, its height and its speed. If no communication is received from it after half an hour has elapsed the crews

of the Lincoln bombers at Garbutt are alerted, and if there is no communication at the end of another half hour the bombers are immediately sent out to search for it.

When the aircraft that Russell Roberts purchased crashed, he made a great scream about what the Government should do. The Government were already providing a service through T.A.A. As this Government provide a lot of money for the operation of the Flying Doctor service, they should have some say in it.

l\Ir. Aikens: They should insist on the installation of wireless in every plane.

lUr. SlliiTH: That is so. After that plane crashed in the Territory,

Russell Roberts bought a Dragon aircraft and it too, was not equipped with wireless. But f~r the refusal of the pilot to use it, R.ussell Roberts would have put it on the Flying Doctor service.

We in the West want the Flying Doctor service, but we d? not want men like Russell Roberts buymg aeroplanes that have no wireless for the protection of the pilot, Flying Doctor, and the patients whom he is bringing in for treatment. The hon. :nem?er for Clayfield says that Russell Roberts 1s domg a good job. Can anybody be said to be doing a good job when he is risking the lives of pilots and patients~

Mr. H. B. Taylor: I w1ll leave it to him to answer you.

lUr. SiUITH: He cannot deny the truth of what I am saying. The pilot of the pla~e that crashed had no means of commumcating with Cloncurry or Tow~sville and getting directions when he was fly1llg through low cloud.

While these things are going on, Russell Roberts is demanding further assistance from the Government. We do not want him buying obsolete planes. We should investigate the purchase of an obsolete aircraft from Charlie Russell so that he could buy a new twin-engine plane. The aircraft that was purchased from him ha~ crashed at lea~t two or three times before 1t was placed 1ll the Flying Doctor service.

Mr. Aikens: . They are very serious allegations and should be investigated.

Mr. SMITH: The plane had had two crashes at least. Mr. Russell Roberts said it was too small to have a wireless installed. Qantas used old Moths and found they were too dangerous for commercial purposes. They then changed to twin-engined Dragons and later to three-engined Drovers. Recently there was a Redex trial for single-engined aircraft. Instead of permitting them to cross the hills from Cloncurry to Mt. Isa and Camooweal, the \'ivil Aviati?n Department made them fly the 30-odd m1les to Malbon, thence to Duchess, Mt. Isa and Camooweal. In the old days Qantas had emergency landing grounds along this route every 10 miles. Mr. Russell Roberts said that single-engined aircraft were quite suitable to fly over that remote area-which now the Premier knows

Supply. (14 OCTOBER.] Supply. 737

from his recent visit-where commercial air services use multi-engined aircraft for the safety of crews and passengers. In view of the contribution which the Government make to this service we should see that fully equipped suitable aircraft are used, capable of maintaining contact with Garbutt R.A.A.F. station. When a T.A.A., A.N.A., or Flying Doctor plane leaves Cloncurry, it contacts Garbutt. If it leaves at 8 o'clock, at 8.30 it contacts Garbutt for bearings, giving particulars of height and speed. If Garbutt receives no word at 8.30, the Lincoln crews stand by. If there is no word at 9 o'clock the Lincolns set out to search the area where the plane was last heard of. We should be happy about that service and it should be availed of by all who use aircraft in that area.

lt~r .. Aik~ns.: It is a wonder that they got a Crvrl Avratron Department licence for that plane.

Mr. SMITH: My information is that they do ~ot seem to k~ow how they got it. The engme was never mspected by technical men as to airworthiness.

llir. Aikens: Char lie Russell might have wangled a licence for them.

Mr. SMITH: He may have, but why should an obsolete, single-engined aircraft be used to service those remote areas where sacrifices are great enough without the sacrifice of life in the Flying Doctor service. We do not want to see the se~vice ruined ·because of political gnevances. Let us see that this does not happen in the future. Standing by in Cioncurry today is a Drover aircraft supplied by T.A.A. Let us continue to have an aircraft serviced by a big organisation so that the pilot can feel safe in taking it to any remote area. He will have the flying doctor with him and they can bring back the patient in comfort and safety. This is the first opportunity I have had of, bringing the matter up since the crash. The hon. member for Clay:field did not hesitate to defend Russell Roberts. He has not done as great a job as the late Norman Burke did.

I wish to refer to another great service-the Government's contribution to the Red Cross blood transfusion centre. We are all aware of the importance of that service to the State. Twelve months ago I heard a permanent member of the Red Cross blood transfusion service sav that if it were not for the generous contribution by the State Government they would not be able to carry on. We also appreciate the great service given by blood uonors.

The Government also subsidise the John Burke Steamship Company for a service to Thursday Island, the Gulf of Carpentaria, down the peninsula to the ports of Normanton and Burketown. This year the subsidy amounteu to £24,000.

If the Commonwealth had given this State all the money to which it is entitled we should not have to restrict our hospital and school buildings, roads, and other facilities.

1954-2A

Another excellent subsidy is that provided for the inland fish supply. This year the Government are providing £2,000 to enable 80,000 lb. of fish to be brought from the Gulf of Carpentaria to inland places like Cloncurry, Mt. Isa, Camooweal, Richmond, and Longreach, to give the people a good fish supply, at prices equal to those on the coast. Three gentlemen from Caloundra, Messrs. Clark, Carruthers, and Rees, left that centre last Monday to go and start a fishing industry at Karumba. It has great possibilities. The Government have played no small part in starting these men off in the industry. Last Thursday the Premier informed me that I could tell these men the Government had gone guarantor for them for £5,000, plus a subsidy of 6d. a lb. for the fish sent to the inland areas. Fish will be air-lifted from Karumba to the inland areas. Great credit is due to T.A.A. for the assistm1ce to be given to these fishermen. T.A.A. will make available a D.C.3 aircraft to carry fish from Karumba to Cloncnrry and if, necessary to Charleville, Longreach, and Roma. That is a commendable action. This industry will play a greaf part in the development of the Gulf.

The Commonwealth Department of Civil Aviation is playing its part. It is making available to these men the Civil Aviation buildings at Karumba which were used during the war, at virtually no expense. All are due for congratulation. Everybody has pulled his weight, the fishermen, the State Government and the Department of Civil Aviation. Some of the Commonwealth disposals departments have made available two new beautiful marine engines at very low cost. The fishermen did not have to compete at public auction for them. These engines are 150 h.p. to 200 h.p. diesel marine engines. These were installed in the boat. This new fishing venture to the Gulf will commence in about three weeks or a month. Messrs. Carruthers and Clark who left Caloundra last Monday expect to deliver the first fish at the depot at Karumba in a month's time. Mr. Rees is setting up a depot at Cloncurry. Here I might mention that the C.O.D. will play a very important part. The C.O.D. will handle the fish in the western parts of the State in which they have branches. Within a few years or even within 18 months this fishing venture will require more boats, I hope, and their activities will extend as far south as Brisbane. It is hoped eventually to forward consignments of salmon and other sea foods for consumption by the people of Brisbane. Beautiful fish are to be found in the Gulf and the Brisbane people eventually will enjoy them as much as the people of the north-western parts of the State. We should all be proud of this venture and I look forward to its success.

Contr-ast the successful launching of this venture with the niggardly assistance and apathy of the Commonwealth Governm!3nt to other important matters of State.

The Dajarra -Camooweal-Northern Tcrri tory railway is the subject of much eontroversy.


"Country Life" is not a Labour newspaper, but on 8 April, 1954, it contained an article which is worth recording in "Hansard "-

''Federal election issue. ' 'The Menzies-Fad den Government has

let North Australia down badly over the Dajarra-Northern Territory rail link and this will become an election issue in this State, as will the Burdekin inigation scheme, which also has been given Canberra's cold shoulder.

''While there may be no urgency about the Burdekin scheme, there are three vital reasons for building a railway into the Northern Territory: (1) Defence; (2) development; ( 3) beef industry expansion.

"Politicians say that such a line will never pay its way and that freight charges will be so heavy that cattlemen will never be able to use it.

''But such arguments presuppose that the North has no future. It has no future in the hands of people who cnnnot, or will not, develop it. It has no future if it remains under the control of people who have no faith in it, and who will not risk a few millions to develop its resources.

''Railways have always been the forerunners of development. Smne pay; some don't, but they justify their existence, where they are conducted efficiently, by the service they give in conveying the settlers' needs in one direction while taking his produce to market in the other. However, few railways, or projected railways, have the strategic value of the Queensland-Northern Territory linkwhich, if it were built, could be a strong link in our chain of defence if ever we were attacked.

''It has been forecast that the Government will sidestep the Northern Territory railway by including in its policy speech a plan for air transport of beef. We believe that the air transport of beef, as distinct from the air transport of cattle, can play an important part in the development of the North, but complementary to the railway, not as a substitute for it.

"So to talk of air beef, without at the san:e time makin~ provision for a railway whiCh must be bmlt sooner or later in the interests of national defence, i~ sheer political humbug.

"We suggest that the Liberal-Country P~rt~ should not be allowed to sidestep tlns. 1ssue. The beef cattle industry plays a VItal part in our economy. Competition for markets may force revolutionary c~an,ges in the technique of production w1thm the next decade. Transport facilities may easily make the difference between success and failure. Is the LiberalCountry Party interested in the beef Industry's fate~ Is it interested in the preservation of a White Australia~ If it is, the Northern Territory rail link will be one of its platform planks for the election on 29 May.''

They turned it down. Sir Arthur Fadden has in mind some scheme for the air lift of

cattle. Hon. ~embers opposite have often asked why we do not seek the advice of men of knowledge, men who know something about the industries we may desire to develop. I ask them now why Sir Arthur Fadden does not seek the advice of the hon. member for Aubigny vYho, without any doubt, is one of the leading authorities on the beef industry in the Commonwealth. Despite the fact that the hon. member for Aubigny has interests in the Northern Territory and other people have large properties in the area that would be served by the proposed rail link, Sir Arthur Fadden has not sought the hon" member's aid.

I repeat that the Northern Territory is not a fa ttening area; it is the foremost cattle breeding area of Australia. 'l'here are about fifteen big cattle properties in the area that would be served by the rail link. They are Headingly, Barclay, Austral, Rocklands, Avon, Sudan, Rockhampton Downs, Brunette, Alexandria, Lake Nash, J'lforestone, Undilla, Thorntonia, Gallipoli and Alroy.

It is possible that between them those properties will sencl 250,000 head of store cattle to fattening areas in one season. The stations there engage in breeding cattle and sending the stores to the fattening areas of Queensland. But Sir Arthur Fttdden is toying with the idea of an air lift. I point out that the largest aeroplane we have could not hold more than ten head of store cattle. If there were 250,000 head of stores to be transported to fattening country, it would mean that 25,000 trips would be required to transport them by air. The average weight of a store bullock is from 1,000 to 1,300 lb.

I cannot imagine any aircraft company or organisation charging under 1s. lb. for the carriage of stock. It must be remembered that these cattle would be bullocks on the hoof-live bullocks with their heads, horns and hooves creating the weight. The idea is to bring bullocks by aircraft from the breeding grounds to the fattening areas in Q,uee.nsland and at 1s. lb. it wouLd cost £50 a head to bring them in. If the freight was 6d. lb. it would mean £25 a beast; if 3d. lb., £12 10s., and even at 1d. the cost would be in the vicinity of £5. How stupid of anybody to think of bringing about an airlift of live cattle in the required numbers. The average cost of bringing a bullock from the Northern Territory by rail to the fattening areas would not be more than £2 10s. or £3. In his recent trip north the Premier went to Barldy Tablelands and travelled hundreds of miles and talked to station-owners and people interested in cattle. In the first place, how could the cattle be herded into the planes. It is all very well to speak about bringing a prize bull from the Sydney Show to the Brisbane Exhibition. In such a case the beast would be led into stalls on the aircmft. When cattle are brought from one place to another by aircraft there is a special a ttenclant sitting in the plm1e armed with a rifle or revolver and given instructions to destroy an animal if it becomes fractious and creates a disturbance likely to endanger the life of


the crew of the aircraft. A~ I said, if you were to bring cattle out of the Northern Territory you could only bring 10 or 15 at a time. How would it be possible to lo-a.d the cattle into the plane~ Huge aerodromes would have to be built on station properties and a landing strip would cost anything from £150,000 to £200,000. I have mentioned the names of 10 big stations in close proximity to the Barkly Tablelands. The building of runways for the aircraft to land and take off would cost £5,000,000. How stupid the whole idea is! No wonder Sir Arthur Fad den raced out of Australia after he set up the committee to investigate the air-freighting of cattle from the Northern Territory. What would be the first business of such a committee~ Is it not to be expected that it would get evidence from people who would know~ Where would the committee get that knowledge in Australia~ There is no-one in Australia with knowledge of the carriage of livestock by air in such numbers. If there was anything in the air-freighting of cattle, do you not think that America would be one of the foremost places in the world to undertake the carriage of livestock to fattening areas or to markets g There is not one beast in America carried under such circumstances. As I have said, a prize bull or animal might be shifted from one place to another but there is no organisation in America, the leading country in aviation in the world, that air-lifts cattle. When Sir Arthur Fadden set up this Committee the hon member for Aubigny wrote to some of his cattle-breeding friends in America, who said that there was no such organisation in America and that no such organisation was possible. Hon members can see just how silly the idea is to set up an organisation to air-freight livestock in such numbers from the breeding grounds of the Northern Territory. It is all so stupid and so silly. It is no wonder Sir Arthur Fadden raced out of the country immediately he set up the commission. He appointed as chairman, Mr. Davidson, a member of the Federal Parliament. How could his knowledge compare with that of, say, the hon. member for Aubigny~ The right and proper thing would have been to appoint as chairman a man with the knowledge of the hon. member for Aubigny, but Sir Arthur Fadden ignored him, although he is one of his own flock.

I should like now to refer to the niggardly attitude of the Commonwealth Govermpent in providing funds for the development of this State. When the recent Federal Budget was presented it was hoped that adequate provision would be made for the development of Queensland, but it would appear that we have too many ''knockers'' of this State. In passing, I should like to refer to a new industry that has begun in this State, one that will probably result in immense financial gain not only to Queensland, but to the whole of Australia. I refer to the discovery of uranium. It is astounding how, in the few short ·weeks since it was discovered in Queensland, the ''knockers'' have come from the other States.

I shall read another article from ''Queensland Country Life,'' one that was printed as

recently as 16 September of this year. It is not from "The Courier-Mail" or "Brisbane Telegraph," but from a paper that is printed wholly and solely for country people.

Mr. Sparkes: It is a pretty good paper.

Jir. SJITTH: It is a good paper. I am pleased that the hon. member for Aubigny said that. This is what it had to say about the Federal Budget-

'' Raw Deal for Queensland. By 'Yeoman.'''

I do not know who ''Yeoman'' is, but I should not be surprised if he is the hon. member for Aubigny.

The article says-" 'Neglected Queensland,' or 'Lost

Opportunities' would have been a more appropriate title than 'Major Development Projects' for the Queensland section of a booklet just issued by the Department of National Development, Canberra.

''Development referred to is in southern States, except for the Burdekin River irrigation hydro-electric and flood mitigation scheme, which has been cold-shouldered by the Federal Government; the Southport and Mount Spec (Townsville) water supply schemes, which are for the benefit of tourists, and several city water supply projects.

''Queensland's sha.re of railway construction is 'Urban quadruplication and electrification, Brisbane,' and 'Locomotive repair shop, Brisbane.' Our land settlement projBcts occupy exactly two lines'Wandoan-Taroom, Dawson River' and 'Clare Irrigation Area, Burdekin River.'

''In other States, millions are being spent on port construction and improvement-£5:! million on Darling Harbour; over £5,000,000 at Newcastle; £3i million at Iluka on the Clarence; £23,000,000 at Port Adelaide; to mention merely a few projects. Despite the urgent need for a month-about shipping service to cater for the export of beef to United Kingdom and eastern ports, the only Queensland port on which money is being spent is Gladstone.

''Total estimated cost for the various projects throughout Australia m~ntioned in the booklet is £638,914,000. Thrs figure does not include the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, which alone is estimated to cost £422,000,000.

''Most of the projects in hand for Queensland are the responsibility of the State Government, not of the Department of National Development, although the publication states that it is issued by authority of the Minister for National Development. So far as that department is concerned, Queensland is little more than a name on a map. What do Queensland Ms.P. intend doing about it~"

There it is in a Country Party paper, "Raw Deal for Queensland.''

Right through this debate hon. members of the Opposition have been praising M;r. Menzies and Sir Arthur Fadden for therr


sympathetic attitude and favouritism towards this State. Much credit must go to the State Government for their sympathetic attitude towards the reintroduction of copper mining in Queensland. This has had an important bearing on uranium mining. To assist in the production of copper, the State Government acted as guarantor for Mt. Isa Mines Ltd. in the construction of its copper smelter to the extent of £500,000. That encouraged the small copper-producers, gougers, and prospectors, in the huge Cloncurry copper field. Outside the present Mt. Isa Mines leases, there are no silver-lead deposits in the area other than at Lawn Hills, about 300 miles to the north. Within 12 months of Mt. Isa Mines starting to produce copper, these prospectors, gougers, and small mine-owners, discovered this important mineral known as urani1_1m. The first uranium deposits of any quanbty and of reasonable value were found in Queensland in March this year. Within six or seven weeks, Mr. Dickson, the head of the South Australian Mines Department, with no invitation from this Government, went to the Cloncurry-Mt. Isa Mineral field, returning to South Australia to condemn our uranium deposits as being of no value. Straightaway we got a knocker from another State on our new uranium field. We did not invite him; I do not know who invited him. When the Premier and the Treasurer were in Canberra for the Premiers' Conference and the Loan Council meeting at the end of June, the Premier of South Australia, Mr. Playford, was running round Canberra saying, ''Your uranium deposits are of no value. Do not worry about them.'' There was a knocker of a new development here. Recently the Prime Minister visited Rum Jungle to open the new uranium treatment plant. He went to Mt. Isa but he did not bother to get in touch with the uranium companies in the area to ask them how or what they were doing. He was not interested. Before I conclude I make an a.ppeal to this Government to see that these knockers do not interfere with these industries. Our uranium potential will be of great value not only to Queensland, but to the whole of the Commonwealth. People from South Africa and Canada and other countries have reported that our uranium potential is something worthwhile. We should see that it is developed with the greatest advantage to this State. Thirty years ago the Duchess-Mt. Isa railway was being debated in this Chamber and the Opposition said it was not worthwhile, that Mt. Isa was a white elephant and that the railway would never be any use. Mining technicians from the southern States went to Mt. Isa and reported that there was not enough lead there to make sufficient bullets to blow the brains out of the heads of the people who were going to put their money into it. Yet today it is one of the greatest industries in this State and in the Commonwealth. The Labour Government of the day had the greatest faith in their Chief Geologist, Saint Smith who staked his reputation on Mt. Isa. The late W. H. Corbould financed Mt. Isa and brought it to its present stage. The knockers of the other States made it so difficult that Corbould had to go overseas to get finance. What have

we today~ We have millions of pounds of Australian money invested in the new uranium deposits. The same knockers are still about. We read warnings in the newspapers about uranium deposits at Mt. Isa. As I said, 30 years ago the same thing occurred, but luckily the Government backed that great Queensland geologist who staked his reputation on the future of Mt. Isa. Today we have Geologist Ridgway, a pupil of Saint Smith and he has staked his reputation on our new uranium finds in the Cloncurry-Mt. Isa area.

Mr. Foley: An area of untold wealth.

lUr. SJUITH: An area of untold wealth. When the hon. member for Belyando was Secretary for Mines he said that if this Mineral field was in Europe many pints of blood would have been spilled and lives would have been sacrificed in the fight for ownership.

"\V e are not going to let these knockers kill a new industry that is going to be of such great value to us in the future. I shall give an illustration of the value of this uranium. I shall compare it with Mt. Isa Mines. Mt. Isa Mines are paying many millions of pounds in wages, lead bonuses and dividends to shareholders from the production of copper and silver lead.

I will now compare uranium with the production of copper. This financial year Mt. Isa will be producing 2,000 tons of copper per month, worth approximately £8,000,000. The £8,000,000 is from copper of an aYerage of 4 per cent., or to be exact 4.2 per cent. I will use the ronnel figure of 4 per cmt. The Australian price of copper is fixed at £320 a ton. This brings the 4 per cent. copper produced at Mt. Isa to about £3 4s. or £3 5s. per unit. The 4 per cent. copper is valued at about £13 a ton. After taking into consideration mining, milling and smelting costs Mt. Isa will produce £8,000,000 worth of copper this year. As I have said, 4 per cent. copper is worth £13 a ton and 1 per cent. uranium is fixed in Australia at £40. The fixed price for one-half per cent. uranium is £20 and for one-quarter £10 a ton. The one per cent. uranium at £40 a ton is worth nearly three times the value of 4 per cent. copper. That is an instance of the untold wealth that is there.

Mr. Foley: Are the lodes uf any extent?

~Ir. SlUITH: I have information that I wish I could divulge to the Committee. Of the lodes now being exposed, Mr. Ridgway, the geologist, states that almost on the surface, with very little open cut, there are £57 million of one per cent. uranium in the Mary Ka thleen leases. Thiess Bros. are taking away the overburden and stockpiling on the surface. We should not allow the knockers to knock this venture. We must stand in the forefront. With the wealth of the northern part of Queensland, from Rockhampton west to the Northern Tenitory border, the copper and silver lead, uranium and the pastoral industry, this will be the wealthiest


part of the Commonwealth. Other countries such as Canada and South Africa have gone in extensively for the production of uranium. Articles on uranium are to be found in the Queensland Mining .Journal but the Committee I hope will permit me to read from a South African mining journal what is being done there. I wish I had time to read it all so that it could be recorded in '' Hansard. '' In the early days gold made this a prosperous country but gold production will be as nothing with the production of uranium. Wealth will come to this State as it is coming to South Africa and Canada. This is an extract from the .Journal of the Chemical Metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa. It is from an address by Mr. C. S. McLean to a joint meeting of t1ie Chemical metallurgical and Mining Society of South Africa and the University of the \Vitwatersrand in the Great Hall of the University, on 28 April, 1954.

''South Africa's economic development has been based on mining. Diamond mining provided the first great stimulus to the leisurely, pastoral pattern of the country's way of life, and then came gold mining with its even more spectacular contributions to the nation's progress.''

We have no diamonds, but we did have great gold-mining industries at Charters Towers Gympie, and Mount Morgan. Now th~ uranium deposits will promote development to replace the ghost towns of the old mining fields. The article continues-

"Now another major mining project must be recorded, one which may well prove to be the most significant of them all-the production of uranium.

''In this new field, economic history is being written every clay, being written so boldly and so rapidly that its full significance is not always generally realised; more especially as important developments are veiled by the curtain -of secrecy imposed by the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act.

"No industry in the history of South Africa has been developed so rapidly as the uranium industry. The construction of the first uranium production plant was started in 1951 and today six plants are already operating; this fact will serve to emphasise the speed at which this infant industry is being established and expanded. Nor has any industry been planned so decisively.''

Already £75,000,000 has been expended on uranium fields and treatment plants in South Africa. That money was subscribed by the American and British Governments, and what applies in South Africa can be of equal benefit in Queensland. The article goes on to say-

"What has this new industry meant in terms of employment? It has opened up new vistas, particularly for technically qualified men. Quite apart from the work created in the engineering trades and among engineering artisans, in the construction and maintenance of the plants,

the new industry will offer posts to metallurgists, chemists, chemical eng~neers, mechanical and electrical engmeers, instrument makers, and others.''

Let us help through our own Queensland University. Let us train these new technicians for this new industry. The article goes on-

'' So it is quite clear that the birth and development of this new industry will be an important factor in the field of careers.

''The potential purchasing power of this new industry, too, is of great importance. Each month, for instance, the uranium industry will consume many thousands of tons of chemicals and other materials. The most important of these is sulphuric acid. The seven acid plants will produce approximately 40,000 tons of sulphuric acid a month.

''When the programme is in full swing, it is possible that the industry will consume as much as 20,000 tons of manganese ore a month. The extraction process requires, specificall?, manganese dioxide and the known reserves o:f manganese ores of this type in South Africa are limited. It is for this reason than, manganese recovery plants have been incorporated in the process. In the meantime, a market has been provided for manganese ores that are too low in grade for the export trade but are eminently suitable for use in uranium extraction.

''Other materials that are used in large quantities are lime and limestone. The eventual ~onsumption of these is estimated to be 15,000 tons per month of lime and 10,000 tons per month of limestone. There is at present considerable activity in the lime industry preparatory to the supply of these large tonnages. ''

(Time expired.)

lUr. BROWN (Buranda) (9.44 p.m.): "The Courier-Mail,'' ''Brisbane Telegraph'' and other newspapers in Queensland would do well to publicise under great headlines the first paragraph of the Financial Statement, which reads-

'' The financial year 1953-1954 closed with a surplus in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of £342,934 as compared with a surplus of £22,648 forecast in the Budget last year. This was the fourth largest surplus achieved in the Consolidated R.evenue Fund of the State, being exceeded only by the surpluses in the years-

1944-1945, £569,215 1872 £487,333 (which included

£350,000 transferred from Loan Fund).''

We have heard a lot about money being transferred from one fund to another but it was not a Labour Government that did that. In 1906-1907 the surplus was £396,115. Having had those figures supplied to us in the Treasurer's Financial Statement I think ''The Courier-Mail'' and other papers should have featured the particulars in big hel<dlines to let the people of Queensland know the exact position and inform them of the


good work that a Labour Government have done. We have to realise that the Labour Party is not endowed with people possessing university qualifications who have passed all sorts of examinations entitling them to letters after their names. The accountancy involved in State finances is altogether different from the accountancy methods adopted by private enterprise.

Mr. Pizzey: In what way?

lUr. BROWN: People running private enterprise are out for profit whereas those conducting the affairs of State are out to give a service to the people and live within their income. The major portion of State R<Jvenue, apart from Railway receipts, is derived from several sources of taxation. The total receipts under this heading was £30,948,488 which was £746,488 more than anticipated and £1,807,687 greater than last year. This income has risen very substantially during the post-war years due to the inflationary trend.

An Opposition Member: Very bad.

lUr. BROWN: And it will be worse for hon. members opposite when I have finished with them. Calculations based on the latest comparative figures of Australian statistics issued by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics indicate that receipt~ from taxation (including amounts collected by State Governments and paid into Special Funds) and Income Tax Reimbursement and Special Financial Grants have increased less in Queensland than in any other State. The increases for the year 1952-1953 over the year immediately prior to the war, 1938, areJ shown--

Mr. Kerr: This sounds familiar.

~Ir. BROWN: The hon. member did not seem to know much about it when he was speaking. The increases are-

Western A us-Australia

South Austraiia Victoria Tasmania

South New Wales ..

Queensland ..

Per Capita.

1938-1939. 1952-1953.

£ 8. d. £ 8. d.

8 19 5 37 4 5 8 16 1 31 1 3 6 8 5 22 3 5 9 4 2 30 7 4

7 8 2 23 17 7 811 6 26 13

Percentage

Increase.

Per cent.

314·9 252·8 245·3 229·8

222·3 211·1

Those figures show that we in Queensland are able to do things that Tory Governments in some of the other States cannot.

Loan Fund expenditure on works and services for the 12 months ended 30 .June last was £22,246,756, which was £2,396,756 greater than the estimated expenditure and £1,696,634 more than the expenditure during the previous financial year. That proves conclusively that we have men on the Government benches who are very capable of handling the finances of this State, even though they may not have had University educations.

~'he Government are aware also of the necessity to conserve funds to enable governmental expenditure to be maintained in the event of a recession and the extent to which the State's financial position can be jeopardised by unsatisfactory financial relationships with the Commonwealth Government. Careful consideration has been given to the provision of reserves to meet any such emergency. It is therefore very pleasing to record once again that the cash position of the State is very sound and, as the Treasurer has often said, an example of the wisdom of the Government in their control of State funds.

Mr. Pizzey: Were you short of money last year~

Mr. BROWN: No, but we were short of brains on the other side of the Chamber.

Public debt transactions during the year 1953-1954 resulted in an increase of £16,141,292 in the gross public debt from £204,255,133 at 1 .July 1953 to £220,396,425 at 30 .June 1954. This debt is equivalent to £170 19s. lld. per head of the population, which is the second lowest for any State of the Commonwealth, as is shown in the following table. I know hon. members have already read it, but it is worth reading again-

Tasmania .. South Australia Western Australia New South Wales Queensland

Amount.

£ 97,690,850

213,619,488 165,782,545 614,494,836 220,396,425

Per Capita.

£ 8. d. 307 6 0 276 2 9 257 17 4 176 5 10 170 19 11

The figure for Victoria was the lowest in the Commonwealth, but Queensland's record as the second lowest is a very good one. Despite the fact that the Moore-Barnes Government left the State's Treasury empty, in 25 years the Labour Government have been able to attain the second best position. I should like to touch upon many matters in the Estimates, but as time is short I am prepared to leave them till later on.

Education facilities will be well provided for in the near future. Everyone can rest assured that we will not be behind the scene when the time comes next year to spend the money on our building programme. Despite the knocks from the Opposition, the members of the Liberal-Country Party representing Queensland in Canberra, and the Federal Government itself, we will go ahead by leaps and bounds.

Electricity is a matter of very great importance in this State and we are progressing more than anyone else in that regard. Our hospitals are outstanding. This is the only State in the Commonwealth with free hospitalisation, the only State that looks after the sick and injured who need to go to hospital. Our hospitals stand as a monument to the Labour Government and especially to the late Premier, Mr. Ned Hanlon. We reeall the time when the founcla tions of the ·women's Hospital were laid. It stands now as a great monument to that beloved gentleman aud the Labour Government of the day. We will go ahead fighting the Federal Government with our hospitalisation plans.


The State Government Insurance Office is another great institution of which we should take notice.

Mr. Kerr: A great monopoly.

lUr. BROWN: Nonsense! One cannot repeat too often the great benefit it has been to the people of Queensland. The figures in the Financial Statem;ent show that it is still going ahead in many ways. In order to deal with this subject we must go back a few years. In 1886 an Employers' Liability Act was passed under which a person who was injured at work could take action in a court of law against his employer. It was not till 1905 when the Kidston-::Yiorgan Coalition Government were in office that the Act was amended, and a person had to be off work two weeks as a result of injury suffered at work before he was entitled to compensation. Clause 4 of the 1905 Workers' Compensation Act reads as follows:-

'' (1) If, in any employment to which this Act applies personal injury by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment is caused to a worker, his employer shall, subject as hereinafter mentioned, be liable to pay compensation in accordance with the Schedule to this Act.

(2) The employer shall not be liable under this Act in respect of any injury which-

(i) 'Does not disable the worker for a period of at least two weeks from earning full wages at the work at which he was employed; or

(ii) Is directly attributable to the serious and wilful misconduct of the worker injured; or

(iii) Occurs to a worker whilst pro-ceeding to or from his place of work.''

It was not until the advent of a Labour Government in 1915 that the Act was amended to provide generous payments for employees injured whilst at or going to and from work. Today compensation is paid from the date of the accident. The Moore-Barnes Government told the people at the 1929 election that if returned to power they would not 011ly reduce the premiums paid by the employers but they would increase the payments to injured workers and they did. They said they would do it and they did it. That is one time that they kept their promise. How did it work out~ In one year the "Workers' Compensation 'Department had a deficit of £56,000. They forgot that the \Vorkers' Compensation 'Department had to satisfy a number of people. First of all it has to satisfy the injured worker, then the employer of labour. Employers have a right to get some satisfaction because they pay a premium according to the wages paid and the risk of the calling.

:iJ'Ir. Bjelke-Petersen: 'Does the employer come under workers' compensation, the one who pays~

lUr. BROWN: He can do so voluntarily. Farmers can come under it. The hon. member for Barambah can come under it.

In 1929 the Moore Government made such a mess, and we all admit they did, that unemployment was rife. Those on relief work got probably only one day's work a week and the Workers' Compensation 'Department received a premium based on the one day's wages, but if a man was injured at work he got a full weekly payment for workers' compensation. That is one way in which the Moore Government showed their ignorance of the finances required to carry out workers' compensation.

Who compose the Opposition today~ They are of the same political colour as the Moore Government. They cannot be compared at all with the Labour Government who have clone so much for the workers of this State. The last report by the State Government Insurance Office was issued last year. At times one hears many discussions about the office, that too many claims are turned clown and that there are too many court cases. In 1952 the office dealt with 40,527 claims as against 35,852 the previous year. Of such claims 293 were rejected. Of which only 25 were prepared to make application to the Industrial Magistrate for the determination of the compensation. The number of decisions given by the Industrial Magistrate in favour of the office was one, and in favour of claimants one. Three a pplications were settled before coming to trial. The number of claims not proceeded wl.th by claimants was 10. Those not decided at 30 June, 1952, numbered only one, and there were nine not yet heard by industrial magistrates. That made a total of 25. When we consider the high number of claims we can be proud of the fact that only 293 were rejected. Let hon. members compare that position with the conditions obtaining in the olden days when a person was obliged to seek redress in a court if he wanted anything at all.

There are two classes of workers' compensation. There is the ordinary policy and then there is the household workers' policy. Those people who employed a washerwoman, a gardener and so on, were required to take out a household workers' policy to cover them. In the past three years, those policies have been provided free of charge.

Mr. KeiT: That is very generous of the Government.

Mr. BROWN: It is. The hon.. member for Sherwood knows something about fire insurance, and I can tell him something about that. The fire insurance section of the office began opera.tions in 1917. Up to that time, fire insurance premiums on dwellings were much higher than they are now, ancl the figures I propose to quote relate only to the insurance of dwellings. Having spent approximately 25 years in the State Government Insurance Office, I can claim to know something about the work.

Before the establishment of the fire insurance section of the State Government Insurance Office. policies were divided into three groups. They were groups A, B and C. Group A related to a dwelling or the contents


of a dwelling that had 30 feet of clear space all round. This was the cheapest policy. The rate was 9s. per £100 of cover. If the householder wished to be covered for explosive risk, the cost was an extra 6d. a £100. If he had a motor car under the house, he paid an extra Is. per £100. For the full risk, the price was 10s. 6d. for every £100 of cover.

Group B related to groups of four houses that did not have 30 feet of clear space. The rate there was 10s. 2d. per £100 of cover plus the extra loading mentioned in connection with group A. There was an extra rate for houses within 15 feet of one another.

Group C related to groups of five or more houses that did not have a break of 30 feet between them. The rate was lis. 4d. per £100 of cover plus the extra loading if required.

If a dwelling had a shop on each side of it, the premium was Ss. per £100 more for each shop.

At that time, the rate under Group C could be as high as 17s. or 18s. per £100 of cover without a shop and more than that if there was a shop alongside the dwelling. I remind hon. members that those rates were net.

Today there is no grouping of houses If his house is right alongside another one he is not rated higher because his house is so situated. The State Government Insurance Office charges a first year premium irrespective of where the house is. I refer particularly to the metropolitan area and it does not matter .whether the house is in between shops. The rate is 3s. 3d., and that is despite all the inflation we hear about.

Mr. Kerr: A £100?

Mr. BROWN: Yes. There is no grouping of houses for rating purposes. Over the last three years the office has been giving a rebate of 33~· per cent. on renewals which brings the premium of 3s. 3d. down to 2s. 2d. a £100. Anybody who says that he will not insure his house must say that because the house is not worth insuring. In days gone by the people of Queensland were payingand I am speaking of before 1917-anything up to 17s. and 18s. a £100, and we must realise that there has been a great saving to the people in fire insurance business alone.

lUr. Walsh: At 2s. 2d. a £100 I imagine that the hon. m,ember for Aubigny would have his house insured with the State Government Insurance Office.

Mr. BROWN: The people of Queensland as a result of this reduction in premium rates have been saved well over £20,000,000.

I am sorry that the hon. member for Chermside is not in his place because during his speech the other day he madB some remal'ks very derogatory of workers' homes. A worker's home is a home built on perpetual lease land and in my opinion the worker's home scheme was the best building scheme

ever introduced in any part of the world. The hon. member also said that he never owned a home. That is a direct lie.

An Opposition lllember: It is an unparliamentary term.

Mr. BROWN: I do not know whethe_r it is an unparliamentary term or not but It is the truth.

Mr. SPARKES: I rise to a point of order. Is the hon. member for Buranda in order in saying that the hon. member for Chermside told a direct lie~

The CHAIRJUAN: The hon. member for Buranda.

Mr. BROWN: The workers' homes scheme was brought into being to help the very poor people who could not get enough money to pay a deposit on a worker's dwelling. I might say that the workers' dwelling scheme is also an excellent one. It costs about £2,500 to build a home and a person has to find about £500 by way of deposit. If his allotment of land was valued at £200 he would have to pay £200 out to get his title deed as the owner of the land. The man with a worker's home could have land of exactly the same size and value, but he would get it for £6 a year, which is less than 2/6 a week.

Mr. Sparkes: He would not have a home at all under your Government.

lllr. BROWN: More people in Queensland own their own homes than in any other part of the world.

In addition, there is a very low deposit on a worker's home. It is only 5 per cent. A home valued at £2,000 would require a deposit of only £100.

Mr. Pizzey: Are you sure of that?

Mr BROWN: Yes. I am. Only recently I was \nstrumental in a man's buying a worker's home.

Mr. Pizzey: On a deposit of £100?

lllr. BROWN: No, on a deposit of £50. ~e bought it through the Queensland Housmg Commission. It was valued at £1,000. He had been living in it for some years and paying 27s. 6d. a week rent for it.

Mr. Sparkes: He will be paying it off until he dies, unless he is a very young man.

lUr. BROWN: I hope the hon. member pays all his debts before he dies.

As I say, this man got his home for a deposit of £50, and his weekly repayments covering both interest and principal, spread over 40 years, will be only a few shillings more than he has been paying in rent. In addition, his repayments include the cost of painting and repairs, and he will now have an equity in the home.

Mr. SDarkes interjected.

Supply. [15 OCTOBER.] Projiteering Prevention, &c., Bill.

Mr. BROWN: That does not matter. He has a home to live in. He can sell the house if he wants to and elaim his equity in it.

lUr. Nicklin: Has he got free life insurance, too~

Mr. BROWN: No, he was too old to get free life insurance. Incidentally, the free life insurance scheme is something of which a lot more notice should be taken.

The Workers' Homes scheme is the best building scheme that was ever introduced into this country. Under it a man can get a home on a very low deposit. The banks and the insurance companies want a deposit of at least 40 per cent. on a home.

The Labour Party has always worked for the betterm,ent of the working-class people, who are the salt of the earth. I was brought up in the university of hardship. That has taught me many things. I think back to what my parents had to suffer. I remember Christmas 1893, when my brothers and sisters sat down to a Christmas Dinner of potatoes and dripping, and not much of it. Friends of the hon. members opposite were then in power and allowed such things to go on. How can they expect me to be anything else but Labour~ My father, because of a strike, was boycotted in this State because he had the guts to stand up for his rights. There was not an Act of Parliament in all Australia on which to convict him and his friends. They had to use an act of George III under which to convict them, and my father had to do 14 days in goal in Sydney. Thereafter he was boycotted by the shipping companies, and he walked the streets of Brisbane for six months and nine days and did not earn a shilling.

lUr. Power: Shame on them!

lUr. BROWN: I am proud of my parents and the fact that m\Y brothers and I had to go out and get washing from the big guns of Coorparoo and bring it home, where my mother would wash it, using our own firewood. We had to go to the hills at Coorparoo to get firewood to boil the copper. After all that was done and the washing taken back, my mother received only half-a-crown for the job, and that was the only money coming into our house at that time.

When I look back on these things, I thank God for the pioneers of this movement who laid a foundation to enable the workingclass people of this country to achieve something better, something they are entitled to. Because the Queensland Labour Government are doing such a great job the Opposition can rest assured that as long as we keep doing these things they will never occupy the Treasury benches in Queensland.

Progress reported.

The House adjourned at 10.31 p.m.

745

Legislative Assembly THURSDAY OCTOBERTenant Acts, 1948 to 1950. Order in Council under the Supreme...

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Transcript of Legislative Assembly THURSDAY OCTOBERTenant Acts, 1948 to 1950. Order in Council under the Supreme...