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Newcastle Support
For New State
LOCATION OF CAPITAL
Following the unanimous decision of the
Newcastle Chamber of Commerce to support the
New England Movement, the recent meeting of
the Council of Action held in Newcastle had
special significance.
The President, Cr. P. A. Wright,
outlined the reasons for the inclusion
:of, Newcastle within the boundaries
of. the- proposed New' State.
The'' decisioh to • do • so was made
after intensive debate bv the Convention
of the movement; and,
after due consideration was given to
the recommendations of the oyal
Commissioner, Mr. H. S. Nicholas,
K.C., who was appointed by the
N.S.W. Government in 1933 to report
ujpon the areas considered
suitable for self government.
Mr. Nicholas considered that the
addition of Newcastle would provide
the New State with a wide
diversity of production and ensure
stability of income.
He designed his boundary *o preserve.
in one State unit the Maitland
railway junction and 'ts associated
lines; to include in one
State the whole of the watershed
of the Hunter from which the
people and industries of Newcastle
derive their water supply; and to
ensure the community of com-1
mercial interests existing between
Newcastle, the Hunter Valley, the
Tablelands and the North-West.
Cr. Wright said that —d New
En-1 and Movement had given serious
thought to the location of the
capital city of the new State. Not
wishing to repeat the errors of the
past, it was considered undesirable
to place the capital in a situation,
remote from much of the hinterland.
Sydney and Brisbane were unfortunate
examples of the location
of a capital far removed from the
outposts of the States concerned.
The location th: capital should
therefore rest with the first legislature
of the New England ITew :
State and should occupy a central!;
position. Newcastle must -emain
the most important commercial
and industrial city of the State,
but it would be linked in a common
> bond to achieve intensified
and balanced development of the
resources and facilities of the area
as a whole.
That Newcastle and its immediate
environment could have developed
far beyond its present
standards was revealed by an examination
of ohe 1947 census. Between
1933 and 1947, 8,240 persons
migrated away from the
Hunter Valley region. Between
Chose dates, Sydney gained more
people than the Newcastle region
had done in 150 years. Sydney, with
a mere fraction of the natural resources
and advantages of the
Hunter Valley war growing apace.
Newcastle region, because of a
studied policy of neglect by Sydney,
had remained a comparatively
small city, the total increase of
population being only 32,401 in fifteen
years.
The bulk of the power of the
State of N.S.W. was now being
produced and used in Sydney. Instead
of being converted to elec
ta - power at the pi'head of the
coal mines and use' in factories
adjacent to the mines, the coal
was drawn away from the mines
by the deteriorating: railway system
to Sydney. Thus Newcastle's progress
was curbed and development
hindered.
The New England Movement was
Pledged to the maintenance and
expansion of the Federal system
by means of the - operation of the
New States clauses in the Australian
Constitution.
It was disappointing that more
emphasis had not been placed on
the real significance of the Jubilee
celebrations. The executive of the
New England Movement had asked
the Prime Minister to summon a
Constitutional Convention to revise
the Constitution in the light of
half u century's experience.
The executive had also agreed
to co-operate with the Murray
Valley Development League in the
organisation of an All-Australian
Conference of Development Leagues
to be held at Corowa in the River\x=req-\
ina at the end of July to commemorate
the famous conference
held by the Border Federal Leagues
in 1893. The only surviving delegate
of the 1893 conference (Sir Robert
Garran) would attend the gathering
in 1951.
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