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Wednesday, 22 October 1919

Mr YATES (Adelaide) . - I offer no opposition to this Bill, which gives to the Commonwealth a right which it ought to possess in administering the national -asset which South Australia handed over to the Federation. I take exception to the remark made by the honorable member for Maribyrnong (Mr. Fenton) that the increased revenue which will be derived from the line as the result of the raising of rates will enable us to pay off some of the " dead horse " which we took over, in" connexion with the Territory, from the State Government. If the Territory is a " dead horse," then all the more shame to the Commonwealth. It shows that the Commonwealth Government does not know how to develop it. If a band of capitalists secured possession of it, they would very quickly show the people how to develop it. When Australia federated, and we were told that we were to be one people, with one destiny, it was only reasonable that a small State like South Australia should not be burdened with a tract of country with which it could not be expected to deal. Every strategist tells us that the Northern Territory, with its lack of population, is one of the greatest menaces to our safety, and Ave could hardly expect South Australia to shoulder the responsibility of a new nation in that regard. Had South Australia retained possession of it, I am sure that it would have done more than the Commonwealth has done towards liquidating the liabilities associated with it. It is time that the. Government applied themselves to the task of developing the Territory. There we have an opportunity of exploiting the possibilities of nearly every tropical product. Very little will be done in that direction, however, until the Territory is brought into closer touch with the States. If the Oodnadatta railway were extended to the Macdonnell Ranges or Alice Springs, it would touch some of the potentialities of the Northern Territory, and give an opportunity to wipe off some of the " dead horse," which, so to speak, would have been revivified into a livehorse.. I hope we shall tackle the question of the Northern Territory quickly, and seriously, and in a proper frame of mind, because the spirit of Federation is going to be broken down if the States are to be treated as South Australia has been. Only the other day the Postmaster-General (Mr. Webster) came to South Australia and made a statement with regard to what was going to be spent in that State. But the money is not on the Estimates. Hardly a penny is being spent in South Australia for developmental purposes by that Department, and the same thing applies to the Northern Territory.

Mr RICHARD FOSTER (WAKEFIELD, SOUTH AUSTRALIA) - That is the fault of South Australia not agreeing to an improvement, by which she would have come out at the top instead of the bottom.

Mr YATES - That does not get over the insincerity of Ministers. The honorable member was present, and heard thePostmasterGeneral say he was glad the question had been brought up, and that so many Federal members were present at the deputation, because he would want their assistance to consummate his ideas. When we look at his Estimates, there is no idea, on them. "Mr. Richard Foster. - Because the people at Port Adelaide would not agree on a site.

Mr YATES - I am referring to the improvement of the General Post Office, Adelaide. The Bill does nothing for South Australia, and the honorable member for Wilmot (Mr. Atkinson) has advised the Minister to be careful how he uses it, lest he kills the goose that lays the golden eggs, if I may apply that description to the Northern Territory. Judging by the Estimates, and the lethargic manner in which this matter is being dealt with. I have no fear of the Minister treading too heavily on something which is likely to produce some revenue, where it produces none at the present time. I wish again to enter an emphatic protest on behalf of South Australia, and to galvanize the Government into a little life, if possible. Whatever Government is in power must recognise that the carrying out of the agreement,. and the extension of the railway, is not merely a matter of doing justice to South Australia. It means making use of one of the parts of the

Commonwealth which is going to prove an Eldorado as soon as those who are supposed to do so control and develop it properly.

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