Vast Industries For Antipodes If Unions Let Men Work

Chronicle (Levin), 25 March 1948, Page 7

Vast Industries For Antipodes If Unions Let Men Work

— ♦ . Received Wedhesday, 9.50- p.m. . SYDNEY, Marcli 24. . • "Australia and' New * Zealand have an . * industrial future unrivaiied in the world, today— if they can only solve tlie dual probiems oi' finding sufficient manpower and oi cxtraeting a full day's work out„of the manpower they possess." This statement by *a h'epresentative of a -British textile firpi is a fair sainple oi theeomments made. by oVer a sebre. of sueh men interviewed this year. ♦ For soriie rrioiith's .• no W .pfaiies from England have earried increasing iiUinbers oi rcpresentatives of British indnstry engaged in-making thorough soeial and economie surveys of the Domiuioiis. In maiiy cases tliese men are averse to publicity and take pains to avoid contact \fith interested parties with land or services for sale. They are Were to see for Ihemselves if the Commonwealtli is a fit ' plhce for theif firms to establish a faetory or promote a new indnstry. The establishment of vast enterprises such as tliat of Courtauld's at Tomago near Neweastle, the Electric Supply Corporation at Blair Athol, Queensland, and the Nuffield Organisation in Sydney tend to attract the public eye, but potentially many more millions of invested capital and productive wealth are under the control of tliese men who say nothing for publication and depart as quietly as tliey come. % Tliough these men represent a cross-section of the entire British industrial field tlieir opinions are strikingly similar. "Due to dollar difficulties our area for possible expansion hhs narrowed - to three eountriss: South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, said oue. Of these Australia, because of its size and resourccs in eoal and steel, is the best prospect. . The manpower positioh is aliput the same in all three— there is noiie to spare and vcry litt.le eliance of filling the gap exeept by direct niigratioii fiom England. , "But Australia offers an additional prpblem. Once we get our workers here as we are prepared to do, will the unipns allow them to work,? In the few weeks I have been here I have seen more and la.rger strikes over more trivial issues than anywhere else in the world." . , The businessmen interviewed made it.clear that their presence iii Australia was due to the enterprise of tlieir particular firms and tliat as far as they knew no British Government plan was in opcration for the dispersal of industries througliout tlic Empire. They wcve aware that the (lovernnient was interested in stimulating Ihe flow of food to Britain and tliat the recommendations of the reeent British Food Mission to Australia would have an important bearing on the primary production of Queensland, but did not helieve tliat the British .Government was prepared to make any move eoneerning the transfer of factories outside the United Kingdom. . '