He always liked guns. One bedroom was for a senior Head Hunter. Other gang members were often present for parties. In September that year, fire destroyed Lyon's home. Lockett - in bodyguard mode - kept the curious and light-fingered at bay for a few days with extreme menace and a samurai sword. Eventually though, Lyon's decadence was there for anyone willing to take a look.
Amid the ruin, his bedroom was the most striking sight. There was a huge double bed with a large ornate iron clock behind it.
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On it, what would be Lyon's tragic signature - a painstakingly-created montage of pornographic images clipped from magazines - it was an effort repeated in home after home for years to come. Methamphetamine, studies have found, fires sexual arousal. For Lyon, his addiction to methamphetamine was entwined with a hunger for sex. In the wake of the loss of Omana Ave, Lyon slipped out of normal life into its feral underbelly.
Home - for a brief period - became a basement area in the Chancery carpark, the development he had financed before it all went crazy. It was completely sealed off from the sun. Dangerously, a large sheet of iron balanced above the only entrance. At the time, Lyon was facing charges of possessing a pistol and was haunted by those seeking him, drugs or money. Inside, the stark concrete bunker was furnished with salvage from the mansion.
At one end of the cavernous room, furthermost from the door, was a mattress. When Lyon walked around town, he wore dirty, ragged jeans held up by string and T-shirts washed less often than they could have been. He would wear wigs - there was a blond mane, like his own, and later, a bizarre set of dreadlocks. Strikingly, his front teeth were missing. Solace was sought in Rarotonga. Despite the calming presence of his then-partner Susan, the party went on. Rarotonga is a clean island, but Lockett claims there were drugs and wild times.
Lyon shipped across White Lightning, a hp speedboat which produced an ear-splitting racket and infuriated locals. In a bizarre stunt, Lyon and partner blasted off into the Pacific, aiming for the distant island of Mangaia. At top speed, they covered the km in just a few hours before ripping the bottom of the boat out on a reef and having to walk the final metres to shore. On top of the parties, cars driven into the sea and White Lightning, there were complaints from young women about Lyon's behaviour.
The generally relaxed locals marched in protest, Lyon left and returned to Auckland where he was given a last chance on existing charges. Judge Philip Recordon gave Lyon a community work sentence where he had expected prison, hearing the millionaire had wanted to help gang members but had become entangled in their lifestyle. The judge told Lyon he was a "poor little rich boy" who was "out of his depth and hooked on drugs".
For Cliff Lyon, watching from the back of the court with Lyon's two brothers, it must have seemed the end of a chapter. From the outside, the montage of pornography could be clearly seen lining the windows of Lyon's waterfront apartment. He wandered Fort St, winding up in a coma after an altercation left him face down with his skull cracked. In brothels in the area, he was known for his drug abuse and the desire it created. He was also known for thwarted desire. For Lyon, P abuse meant he had an itch no scratching would satisfy, and frustration at his inability would be directed at the women he had hired.
There were a constant smattering of charges - police arrested Lyon minutes after he thrust a paintball gun into the face of a man drawing cash from an ATM at 7.
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The same month Lyon took a samurai sword and a large hunting knife and went to visit his estranged partner and her two children, going into the house at 6am to find two men in a sitting room. Two headbutts to the face of one man earned him a new assault charge. There was a spell in prison after the community sentence was appealed. Sentenced to 15 months in Hawkes Bay prison in , his time was spent lodging numerous papers with the courts in an attempt to get out as quickly as possible.
When Lyon was released, he found parts of his fortune had slipped from his hands. It was the first of two such cases. Between the two cases, Lyon slipped further into the grey and murky netherworld in a constant search for that which would satisfy his addictions and desires. From , at least, Lyon had come to prey on the vulnerable. He owned a apartment building called Artizanz in Eden Terrace, filling units with an entourage of the desperate and dissolute.
As at Omana Ave, although far less grandly, the parties went on forever. There were women - prostitutes - Lyon had known for years and, with them, he used methamphetamine like a leash. For others, he used it to bait a trap. His co-accused, a woman in her early 20s with her name still suppressed, would find girls as young as 14, targeting those grappling with a new-found P addiction. They would be brought to Lyon, who gave them methamphetamine in return for sex.
Detective Sergeant Andrew Saunders, who led the investigation, says: Whatever free will his addicted victims might have had was irrelevant to Lyon, the jury found in the case of one victim. Judge Russell Collins, who sentenced Lyon, said "when she did not willingly provide oral sex , you took what you believed you were entitled to. One victim in her mids, called "K" in court, was believed by Lyon to have stolen money and drugs. She was taken from the street, "desperate for methamphetamine" and brought to Lyon. There, the court heard, Lyon had her taken to a room he called the "dungeon" where she was shackled with a collar around her neck, fastened to a device which left her hunched and unable to move freely.
Lyon forced her to carry out oral sex for what she said "felt like a couple of hours". At one point, the court was told, she begged Lyon to rape her so it would be over. Lyon told her she was more beautiful when she cried, the court heard. Lyon's "pimp" was co-accused and victim in one, says Saunders.
She was also the reason the offending stopped when it did. One day, for whatever reason, she approached a youth aid officer on Karangahape Rd. Mark Lyon was using her to get girls, she said, and "someone was going to die" if he wasn't stopped. In thrall to Lyon, she disappeared back into his world. That one piece of information would have to be enough. It took police work. A plan was hatched, with a three-month timetable; it took four months to crack. There was a raid, arrests, and again, Lyon's signature montage of porn. Then came the difficult task of tracking down victims who would testify.
Young girls and working prostitutes, living at the edge of society with methamphetamine addictions, were not willing witnesses. Five complainants showed up at court. It took two-and-a-half years for the case to come to trial. We believe that Australia can march forward to its destiny as the leading nation of the Southern Seas only if its ranks are welded by the ideals of a common cause.
Sectional parties are prone to take extreme steps in the interests of the particular class that they regard themselves as representing. Therein lies a danger. The world has come to a rueful realisation that no nation can build prosperity for itself on the ruin of others. True prosperity for each nation depends upon the prosperity of all. It is the same in every community. It is true for Australia. The prosperity of each section of the Australian community has been improved, and can be still further improved, provided that the interests of all are blended with wisdom, restraint and understanding.
That is the philosophy which has guided the deliberations and decisions of the Government that I have had the honour to lead. It is the foundation of the undeniable success that has been achieved. I cannot hope, tonight, to expound in detail the complexities of the economic position, both domestic and international, but it is my duty to outline to you the fundamental points in the Government's policy. At that stage it is the duty of you, the people of Australia, to ask yourselves: Can present-day economic problems safely be left to advocates of policies that are obviously extreme in conception and character.
My Government has based its economic policy on the following fundamental principles: We aim therefore at the improvement and expansion of external markets for our export industries and at the safeguarding of the domestic market for all our industries, both primary and secondary. Australia is a loyal part of the British Empire.
The continued economic prosperity of the Empire can be fostered by a carefully adjusted exchange of trading advantages between the Mother Country and the Sovereign Dominions. The restriction of production and export can never be willingly accepted by Australia, because it would not only most obviously check the progress of our country, but would also, in view of the determination of Australia to meet her overseas obligations, threaten the solvency of both the Commonwealth and the States. The continued growth of economic nationalism is a menace to Australia's prosperity. Australia must, therefore, seek mutually advantageous trading relations with foreign countries and must take steps to improve her position in foreign markets.
Until full world prosperity is restored, it is the responsibility of the more fortunate sections of the community to help those who, are still feeling the strain of depression. This aid is required by some primary producers, by some States, and by the unemployed. The free and successful pursuit of business and industrial activity, and the restoration of employment depend on stability and confidence, not only in the public finances, but also in the sphere of private finance. There must be no political interference, therefore, with the basic principles of currency, banking, and saving.
The savings of the people must be safeguarded, and the stability of the currency must be jealously guarded. Throughout its term of office, the Government has constantly emphasised the importance of the primary industries to Australia's welfare. They provide 97 per cent. The maintenance of the volume and value of the export trade is essential to enable Australia to meet oversea debt commitments, and to establish credit to pay for necessary imports, which promote business activity and employment.
The Government's policy is to foster the maintenance and extension of the demand for Australia's export products, while placing in the forefront, at all times the importance of Empire Trade. The Ottawa Agreement stands out as a striking example of an effort to increase trade between groups of countries. The Empire has demonstrated to the world, that countries of diverse interests can achieve mutual benefits by increasing the volume of trade between them.
Unfortunately there is a disposition in some quarters to take extreme views on this question. One extreme section sees in the agreement a threat to Australia's secondary industries. I shall deal with that viewpoint a little later. The other extreme section professes to see, in Empire trade, a solution of all Australia's marketing difficulties if only Australia would reduce her tariffs still further.
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Both of these sections do Australia and the Empire a great disservice in pressing views that disregard the facts. Sound advocates of Empire trade, both in Great Britain and Australia, freely acknowledge that such a policy cannot of itself solve marketing difficulties regarding wool and wheat. What is more, we want them to continue so. In recent years Australia and Canada have exported annually million bushels of wheat, whereas Great Britain's total import has been only million bushels.
There are also reasons why exclusive Empire trade is impracticable at present for other commodities. Some foreign countries, which formerly bought large quantities of foodstuffs, now purchase either none at all or very little. Consequently, increased quantities of these foodstuffs have been supplied to the British market. Great Britain desires to limit these increased quantities, but is not able totally to exclude the products of foreign countries.
It is plain that Great Britain requires foreign markets for a large portion of her own exports. We cannot complain of this. Great Britain is mistress of her external trade policy, just as Australia is. We must not forget the great advantages that the preferences under the Ottawa Agreement have secured to Australia. Meat products are an outstanding instance. The fact that the largest meat distributing organisation of Great Britain has since established its business on a permanent basis in Australia, and that lines of cargo ships are being fitted out specially for the Australian chilled meat trade, is a happy augury for the development of this trade.
The export of citrus fruits to the British market has very largely increased; and the exports of processed fruits during amounted to 1,, cases, or more than double the previous shipments. It is this necessity to find oversea markets for primary products that marks the difference between the position of the primary and the secondary industries. In the case of the secondary industries there is no oversea marketing problem. But the main primary products are produced largely in excess of home requirements, and the sale abroad of this excess is of great importance to every Austrlaian, whether engaged in primary or secondary industry.
Unfortunately world prices have been so disastrously low that the very existence of some of our primary industries has been threatened. The position of these industries was so serious that it became necessary for the Commonwealth and the States to come to their assistance in various ways. Legislation was passed last year enabling the dairying industry to control marketing and fix a reasonable home price for butter and cheese. By this method, rendered possible by the existence of an import duty of 6d. Practically every primary product, except wool and other products of the pastoral industry, has been subsidised in some way or another.
This system of subsidies cannot endure indefinitely. If the present depression is temporary, they may be sufficient to enable the industries to tide themselves over the difficult period. The Government is not convinced that it is necessary to act upon the basis that the conditions of recent years will be the normal conditions of the world.
The Government considers that if this is so, however, some radical reorganisation must take place. Oversea conditions fix the price of our exported products. It may be that world conditions will not improve. If this proves to be the case, it may be necessary to contemplate general schemes for home-production prices.
The introduction of such methods involves some control of the industries concerned. The Government recognises that there is also an obvious risk of any scheme for guaranteed prices resulting in over-production and consequent failure of the scheme, with disastrous consequences to those who have been induced to enter the industry.
If conditions continue to be unfavourable to our exporting indutries, it may, however, be necessary to consider the introduction of such a scheme, in spite of its difficulties. The Government does not exclude this possibility, but hopes that it will not be necessary to take action to meet it.
The rise in the price of wool last year, however, and the recent encouraging rise in the price of wheat, show that the low level of prices is apparently not permanent and that improvement is possible.
Lyon jailed for sex crimes
For the present, therefore, the Government proposes to continue the system of protection and subsidies in the case of primary industries. The Government does recognise, however, that the volume of debts of primary producers is so great in many cases as to make efficient production. The Government proposes to raise by means of a Recovery Loan a substantial sum for the purpose of affording relief in proper cases.
It is necessary to consider carefully how, and in accordance with what principles, the money should be applied. The powers of the Commonwealth Parliament are very limited in relation to these matters. The Commonwealth Parliament can provide tariff protection and can grant subsidies upon the production or the export of goods. The Commonwealth Parliament cannot, however, deal with such subjects as mortgage, liens, and other claims, or with interest rates, or with debts generally.
Nor has the Commonwealth any control over land legislation. The Commonwealth Government has pursued a policy that has assisted toward such reduction in interest rates as has taken place since it assumed office. The only way in which the Commonwealth Parliament could deal with debts, whether secured or unsecured, would be by means of its power to legislate on bankruptcy and insolvency. Even if, by some ingenuity, legislation to deal with the subject under this power could be evolved, it would be resented by those who required assistance, would be objectionable in principle, and would raise difficulties in administration on a federal basis.
The policy of the Governments of Australia as a whole has been directed toward the prevention of collapse and the avoidance of bankruptcies. It would be very unfortunate, particularly at the present time, for the Government to legislate on the subject of the debts of primary producers or others by some device under the power to pass laws with respect to bankruptcy and insolvency. The Government has carefully considered the whole position in the light of the facts that I have stated, and has come to the conclusion that the best method by which it can help toward putting primary industries on a sounder basis is by inviting the co-operation of the States.
The States are not limited in power in the same way as is the Commonwealth; and they would be able to introduce and administer any system that was approved by their Parliaments. The Government does not propose to deal with this matter by any such method as summoning a Premiers' Conference, and hoping for agreement between the States and the Commonwealth.
What the Government proposes to do is to make money available to the States to be spent by State Governments under schemes approved by their Parliaments—provided only that the contributions of the Commonwealth are devoted toward the purpose of relief of those engaged in primary industry in cases where financial assistance will be a real help toward efficient and payable production. It is not proposed that the Commonwealth Government should review the details of State schemes; but the Commonwealth Government is not prepared merely to provide a sum of money for the States without Parliamentary guarantees that the money will be devoted to the purpose for which the Commonwealth in fact provides it.
It is recognised by the Commonwealth that circumstances differ in the several States of the Commonwealth. Proposals that might be very suitable to the conditions of one State might be quite unsuitable in another State. It is for this reason that the Commonwealth Government does not propose to hold a Premiers' Conference in order to seek general agreement on the matter—agreement which it would probably be very difficult to reach. This scheme is particularly directed toward the primary industries on account of the special difficulties under which exporting industries suffer in Australia, and because, as the recent report of the Wheat Commission has so clearly shown, many of our people engaged in primary industry are in very grave difficulties indeed.
I come now to the other great source of our national sustenance and welfare—the secondary industries of the Commonwealth. In reality, consideration of our primary and secondary industrial activities should never be divided. The two are reciprocal and interdependent. They prosper together, or they do not prosper at all.
In my policy speech of two-and-a-half years ago I gave the undertaking that any government led by me would follow an unmistakable policy of protection to all soundly economic manufacturing enterprises. I undertook that the Government would engage in no arbitrary tariff reductions, but would follow in broad principle the recommendations of the Tariff Board. I claim that those undertakings have been completely honored. It is with great satisfaction that I observe the results of this policy. The figures that record industrial activity show that, when you think of the crisis trough which we have been passing, our manufacturers have made real progress during the life of my Government.
In the Newcastle iron and steel industry, which is a trade barometer, the production, which in had fallen to less than half of the level, was, in May, , 38 per cent, above it. More than that, basic products of the industry are being produced at less than they could be imported duty free. The chief credit for this fine performance lies, of course, with the manufacturers and their employees, and the efficiency, ingenuity and courage with which they have faced their task.
It is surely no mean achievement to have eased the burden of the pastoralists and the farmers, to have given great benefit to British trade, and at the same time to have achieved a remarkable recovery in manufacturing output and employment. Our tariff and treaty policies have helped a multitude, and have injured none; they have re-employed many thousands of idle hands. Compare, if you care to, the value of manufacturers' assets in plant and buildings and goodwill as expressed in Stock Exchange figures today with the same values when we came into office.
The Government has revised no fewer than tariff items and sub-items—an unprecedented Parliamentary achievement. Prohibitions and surcharges have been almost entirely swept away. In short, while maintaining and expanding all sound Australian secondary industry, and carefully protecting our manufacturers from foreign dumping, our tariff policy has been one of very widespread relief to all sections and especially to the men on the land.
For the future we propose to proceed along the same lines, except that there will be further collaboration between the Customs Department and the Commerce Department in the matter of treaty making. The Ottawa Agreement will be coming up for review and will be reviewed in a sympathetic spirit.
The Government, while adhering to its policy of adequate protection for all deserving local primary and secondary industry, and while honoring its Treaty obligations to Britain, will also have regard to the necessity for safeguarding our general export trade by treaties with foreign countries that are large purchasers of our primary products. The making of a treaty with another country is essentially a matter for negotiation, and it is not practicable to conduct negotiations of this character through the Tariff Board.
The Government, therefore, proposes to ask the new Parliament to give to the Minister power to negotiate such foreign trade treaties and, in accordance with the practice that has been adopted in many countries, to put them into force immediately, by proclamation, subject to the proviso that they must be satisfied within a fixed period by Parliament itself. Unless this degree of elasticity is allowed it does not appear to be possible to deal with the many questions that will arise in the arrangement of trade treaties with some of our best customers.
This will not preclude consultation with the Tariff Board in regard to them. The success of the Federal system of Government depends very largely on amicable relations between the Federal and State legislation and Governments. Although under the Constitution the High Court is provided as the judicial authority for the interpretation of the Constitution, so as to decide the limits of Federal and Sate powers, the Constitution has also provided for an Inter-State Commission.
Unfortunately the Constitution limited its powers somewhat severely, and, later, when it had been set up, a judgment of the High Court held that the Parliament could not confer effective judicial powers upon the Commission. In consequence of this judgment the Commonwealth Government of that time allowed the Commission to lapse, and it has never been re-established. Since Federation events have shown the necessity for some such body in order to investigate matters arising between the Commonwealth and the States.
For instance, the complaints of the smaller States as to disabilities suffered by them as the result of Federation have led to the appointment of several Royal Commissions and finally to the appointment of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. These Commissions have endeavored to assess the financial loss said by the States concerned to be due to Federation.
The Commonwealth Parliament clearly has power by virtue of Section 51 1 of the Constitution relating to trade and commerce among the States, to control unfair competition of the kind described. Manufacturers in the smaller States complain that whereas their rivals in the larger States have already the advantage of a large home market and are protected against unfair oversea competition and dumping, they, the manufacturers of the smaller States, have no protection against unfair dumping from their rivals in the larger States.
There is no doubt that the investigation of such complaints would be a suitable function for an Interstate Commission to discharge. The special purpose of the Interstate Commission, as contemplated by the Constitution, was to control unfair discrimination and preferences by Interstate carriers, especially State railways; and special powers were given to it in this connection.
But it was anticipated that it might have a wider usefulness in relation to the administration of Interstate commerce laws generally. The Act charges the Commission with the duty of investigating all matters that, in its opinion, ought, in the public interest, to be investigated where they affect the production of, and trade in, commodities, the encouragement of Australian industries and manufactures, the prices of commodities, and any other matter referred to it by either House of the Commonwealth Parliament. It is not to be assumed that the main function allotted to the Commission by the Constitution—to control unfair discrimination in railway freights—is one that is not required to-day.
Complaints are often voiced that such discrimination exists and that there is no authority to control it. The Commonwealth Government has come to the conclusion that there is real necessity for an Interstate Commission as a working part of the Federal Constitution.
Although under the High Court judgment already referred to, it would have no judicial power, yet, by investigation and recommendation, implemented if necessary by legislation, much of the friction and irritation arising from these matters might be removed. The Government proposes to re-establish the Commission with such powers as the Constitution now permits, and to consider later whether any amendments of the Constitution may be desirable in order to enable the Commission to function effectively. I come now to the question that must rank above all others in the scale of a government's responsibility—the national security.
Our system of defence is the insurance of that security. It is easy to cheer for defence; it is easy to talk of adequate defence; but the real test is the readiness to find the funds necessary to enable adequate defence to be provided. The Commonwealth Government has energetically joined with the rest of the British Empire in supporting all movements in the direction of disarmament and peace.
But the results so far have been extremely disappointing. What, today, is the position of the Empire and the world with respect to armaments and general preparedness for war? Briefly it is this: Britain, with the full concurrence of the dominions—and especially of Australia—has for years been setting an example to all the world in disarmament, and in sincere wholesouled endeavors to minimise the possibilities of further wars.
Britain, as well as Australia, has made cut after cut in her various defensive arms—in the air, on the seas, and on land. Expenditure upon armaments has been cut to the bone—cut, as it now turns out, to danger point. The sacred cause of peace, and the horrors and futility of war, have been urged by British and Australian leaders at a long series of international peace conferences, in America, in Britain, and upon the Continent of Europe.
But with what result?
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To the shame of all civilised peoples we have, for the present and the immediate future,laboured largely in vain. While the British nations have preached peace, and, by steady progressive disarmament, have practised peace, great foreign nations, while preaching peace, have continued increasingly to pile up further armaments and at the same time have perfected their preparedness for war. Worse than that—while foreign preparedness for war has advanced, international suspicion and unrest, and other symptoms of the conditions that make for armed conflict, have shown an alarming increase.
The Government of Australia certainly does not expect any outbreak of war. Nothing is further from our thoughts than any war in which Australia might become engaged. And I am sure, too, that that is the opinion of the British Government with respect to Britain. But facts are facts. Would my Government be true to the most solemn and vital of all its responsibilities—the defence of the Commonwealth—if it shut its eyes to these facts, and persisted in a policy of further reductions, or if it failed, after the most exhaustive examination of the position, to adopt a defence programme that the state of the world and the rising tide of foreign armaments makes imperative?
PERSON Meagher Judge (Ret.) Dermot | Building Provincetown, The Book
The British Government still strives for peace and so shall we. But the British Government has been forced by stark realities into increasing its defence provisions. This is also the position in Australia. We propose nothing extravagant. We suggest nothing which savors in the faintest degree of a spirit of militarism or aggression.
We aim only at the lowest possible provision that is consistent with the protection of our Continent, its people and its assets. You are already familiar with the Government's new proposals. Over a brief span of years we propose to enter upon a carefully balanced scheme to recondition and somewhat increase our existing services and defences. A great deal of the money required will be found from accumulated surpluses in the Federal Treasury, and to that extent the increase will not impose further burdens on the taxpayer.
I shall have other opportunities to touch on aspects of Government policy that I have not the time to mention to-night. But I cannot conclude without emphatic reference to a subject that is never absent from my thoughts. I refer to the greatest tragedy in the world to-day and the greatest tragedy of our own position in Australia—unemployment.
The reduction of unemployment has been the principal objective of the Government during its term of office. What I have said should already be well known, but I repeat these things because it is important that the people should realise what has been done. Largely as a result of this comprehensive and persistent policy, the total number of unemployed persons has been reduced by more than 30 per cent.
The amount of unemployment directly attributable to the depression has in the same time been reduced by about 50 per cent. Despite this real improvement, however, large numbers of our workers are still idle. The truth is that until there is a general world recovery, there can be no complete return to normal employment in the Commonwealth. The Government, therefore, is concerned with the question of taking further measures to help in the solution of this tragic problem. A continuance of the conditions to which I have referred will menace the morale and the future usefulness of a great part of our population.
Hitherto the responsibility for relief of unemployment has been allowed to rest with the States. This has been the policy of all Federal Governments, irrespective of party, although all Commonwealth Governments have from time to time strained their resources to assist the States in their task. After months of careful study of the problem, the Government has decided that, in the national interest, the Commonwealth should take a larger share in this responsibility. The States have nearly exhausted their financial possibilities in a wholehearted effort to overcome it.
The task is almost beyond their resources. The Commonwealth Government proposes to increase its efforts to deal with the problem. The Government makes this announcement in the direct interests of those who are so unfortunate as to be unemployed and also in the indirect interests of every section of the community. The Government proposes that practical and enlarged efforts to relieve unemployment with particular reference to the needs of youth, shall take precedence over other Commonwealth activities.
Our aim will be to handle the problem upon a national as well as a State and municipal basis. Instructions have been given for the assembling of all the information directly accessible to the Commonwealth. This information will be supplemented by a swift and detailed survey of all that has been and is being done by the States: Our idea is first to assign to a Commonwealth Minister definite responsibilities for Commonwealth action in relation to employment.
It is proposed that the Minister shall be assisted by Advisory Committees in the several States. We are prepared to submit definite suggestions. One of these is national forestry, upon which a comprehensive scheme will be submitted. Australia greatly needs an extension of its forests, and this is a direction in which any effort that we make will be powerfully aided by nature herself. It should give an opportunity for the healthful employment of large numbers of youths as well as of older men.
In a further effort to solve the tragic problem of the unemployed youth of Australia—which we regard as perhaps the most serious aspect of the general problem before us-we purpose to examine, in conjunction with the State Governments, any useful proposals for the training and preparation of youths for work. We must give these youths a chance to become useful citizens. The Government has also in mind works of some magnitude, such as the unification of railway gauges between capital cities, country water storage, sewerage constructions for large country towns, and other works of like description which meet public needs.
Such works might not at once prove reproductive, but, if wisely chosen, they could not fail to prove a sound investment in the further development of Australia. Then there are such works as the treatment of shale and coal deposits for oil. As a result of the report of the expert Committee appointed to investigate the possibilities of the shale deposits at Newnes, the Commonwealth Government and the Government of New South Wales have decided to enter into negotiations with a company for their development.
For this undertaking reasonable financial assistance will be forthcoming. If success attends the operations at Newnes, attention will be given to the like development of other shale deposits, such as those at Railton-Latrobe, in Tasmania. The problem of absorbing the workless miners on the Australian coalfields is great, and, if the extraction of oil from coal by the hydrogenation, or any other process, can be demonstrated to be pro?
I have mentioned only some of the directions in which examination may disclose opportunities in which the public credit may be utilised—either directly or in support of private initiative—to provide opportunities for employment over a wider area. If the States are prepared to join in the plan, my Government is prepared to join with the States in raising the necessary money and will undertake that the Commonwealth will contribute, upon a basis to be agreed upon, to the interest liability over the non-productive years.
The soundness of public works enterprise and assistance to approved private enterprise at this time is a matter of faith in Australia. There is no limit to the faith that the present Government has in Australia. Already this country and its people have shown marvellous resilience in the partial recovery from the lowest depths of the depression. Australia has led all the world in her substantial escape from the general crisis, and we believe she will continue to do so.
Moreover, the Government holds the view that this depression will eventually go the way of all other depressions in the past, and that the world generally, and especially the British Empire, are already showing signs of a return to happier days. My Government believes that it would be wiser in the general interest to engage in a limited number of sound major employment works than to dissipate money upon a multiplicity of small local jobs of doubtful value.
These major works would draw off the able-bodied section of the unemployed and divide and simplify the whole problem. Public works expenditure, requirements in material, and increased distribution of wages, would stimulate all secondary industry and business, and create stronger local markets for every kind of primary produce. It would increase manual and clerical employment in private enterprise, and hope and wages would come again into the homes of a great many good citizens who are now on bare subsistence.
The Government will enter upon the scheme in a spirit of generosity, impelled by a sense of inevitable responsibility, and confident that the outcome of this proper act of national and democratic justice to those who now vainly seek employment, would be beneficial to all Australians, both to-day and tomorrow. It is a startling thought that in the Commonwealth every year between and women in the prime of life die in childbirth, and that a far greater number suffer chronic ill-health as a result of childbirth.
It is startling, too, that in Australia the maternal mortality rate has risen in the last 30 years, and is now higher than in many other countries.