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WESTr " AUSTRiALIA'S UNFO'.
TUNATE VASTNESS.
The Premier .in. his speech at
Perth on Wednesday evening, re
ferring to the extent. of West Aus
tralia, said that - an- area irom
Wyndham to -Euc!a could never -be
properly developed until it had
more than one .administration. Mr,
Scaddan has frequently expressed
the opinion that the State should be
divided, and there are certainly
powerful reasons in support of his
contention. West Australia ex
tends over one third of the Austra
lian continent; its coastline is no
less than 4350 miles; and for every
mile of coast line there are 224
square miles of territory. The task
of developing the resources of so im
mense a tract of country-an area
about eight times the size of Greas
Britain and Ireland-devolves upon
a population of some 325,000 people.
In addition, there are great diver
sities . of climate and of industries
SV1 a consequent clashing of inter-!
es Gs. The distances are so con
siderable that it" is not surprising'
that there should often be a want
of Iympathy and understanding:
between the different localities.
For instance, what does- Perth of
Katanning or Northam, each of
which has local problems of its
own to wrestle with, know or care
about the development of the tropi
cal north, or even of the condition
of the mining industry at Westonia
or Meekatharra ? It is true thiit a
few individuals here and there may
realise the potentialities of the
tropical parts of West Australia,
but little or nothing is done towards
the opening up of the country. It,.
is said the handful of people in the
State cannot afford the expendi
ture, and perhaps those who take
that view are right. It may also
be true that a few individuals in i
Perth and, the agricultumal districts I
may appreciate the value to West'
Australia generally of the Go!dea]1
Mile and the mining industry; they
know that gold mining raised the I
State from poverty and- stagnation,
to prosperity and progress, and that
it is to-day its mainstay. Still
there has never appeared to be any1
proper understanding of what the
goldfields have done for the coun
try on the part of the bulk of the.
residents of the- coastal areas, or
-any recognition of the urgency in
the common interests of encourag
ing the. continuance of prospecting
.and developmental mining .work:
Innumerable other instances - might
be quoted showing . the. want of
sympathy between • the different
sections of the community. Timber
workers of the south-west know?
nothing about the pastoral industry
of Kimberley or Gascoyne, nor can
:the pearlers of Broome be enthusi
;astic about the progress of wheat
growing at Northam or fruit-produc
tion in the south. The same thing
may be, said about most of the in
dlustries and districts of West .Aus
tralia in relation to each other. In
the case of a State that has a small
area and is compact. this. want of
knowledge. and sympathy between
different .places and industries doeb
not exist to anything like the same.
extent, and govermental functiond
are carried out more simply a-nd
with more efficiency and less fric
tion.
Amongst other strong reasons in
favour of Mr. Scaddan's contention
that-the State should be divided
there is the extent to which the
-hntralisation ,vil h4s erown in
West Australia. 'Acordinr to
Knibl s. there is in this Stath no
less than 37.95 per cent. of
th poeulation living in the
metropolitan area. When the vast
extent' of the State is taken- into
account, tlhe concentration of nopu
lation in the capital and its vicinity
is greater than in any of the other
States. In Victoria 46.10 per cent.
of the people live in .Melbourne,
and in New, South Wales 39.60 per
-cent. reside in Sydney, but thq
smaller areas of Victoria and New
South Wales should be remembered
.in comparing these figures with
Sthose of West Australia. In view
•of the vastness of this State there
is less excuse for centralisation than
in probably any other country in
the world. Yet the whole railway
system is built in furtherance of the
evil. Every railway of consequence
leads to Perth, and bec.u'se the
opening of the port of Esperance
was favourable to a policy of de-.
centralisation, the construction of a
line from there to 'these goldfields
was successfully resisted for twenty
years. The trade of the magnificent
natural harbour of Albany was de
stroyed in order that Perth might
be built up, and an artifi'cial har
bour. made at Fremantle at huge
cost. Other ports besides Albany
and Esperance suffered in order that
Perth might flourish. As the popu
lation of the capital grows, so its in
fluence increases and the centralisa.
tion evil becomes worse and worse.
The majority of the legislators must
of necessity reside, for a consider
able portion of each year, in Perth.
They, naturally become influenced
by their environment. Legislation
has no chance of 'being carried
through Parliament unless it can be
shown that it is of advantage to
Perth, or at. least that it does not I
retard the growth of that city. The i
fact that a railway or some other
ous province to the State matters
nothing, unless it is clear that Perth
will benefit by the trade of that pro
vince, or that at least it will not di
vert trade from Perth. It matters
not to what extent a project may
benefit 'the State as a whole. if it
does not add to the greatness of
Perth.there is little or no chance of
its success.
Judging by the speeches dehvere"dl
by many of the Australian political
leaders, there will, after the tyar, be
important constitutional changes.
There will possibly be a' material
alteration in the relationship - be
tween the motherland and the do
minions in the direction of giving
'the latter some voice in Imperial af
fairs. There', will also, regarding
Australia's internal affairs, be' a
movement towards extending the
powers of the National Parliament
and possibly instituting some form
of unification. The abolition of
the State parliaments should tend
to a more economical system of go.'
vernment as well as check' the cen
tralisation evil in each State. County
councils, with limited powers, I
could be entrusted with local go
vernment,, and a system of decen
tralisation thus established that
would be productive of a form of
home rule that is at present un
known in State affairs outside the
various capitals. There is sufficient
population and space in West Aus.
tralia for several of these councils,
and 'their headquarters need nbt,
and, indeed, ought not. to be in the'
largest town in the area over which
they have jurisdiction. .In some
such re-arrangement of govermental
powers lies the remedy for the difli
culties of legislation and adminis
tration that Mr.. Scaddan has so
frequently pointed out in connec
tion with the enormous sizm of. West
Australia Parts of West Australia,
sutch as the Kimberleys, where the
residents are very few and far be
tween, and possessed of 'inade
qtuate means' of communication,
may not vet be thought suit.
able for any fbrm of self-government
owing to the limited numbers and
sparseness of the population.'- Un
til settlement increases in such lo
calities they could be administered
.as federal territories, and as'it is.
of the greatest importance to the
nation that the vacant spaces of the
north should be peopled, the ex.
pense of doing so should be borne
not solely by the people of West
Australia but by the whole C;m
monwealth.
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