LAND SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 58, 2 December 1926, Page 12

LAND SETTLEMENT

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN GROUP SYSTEM

DISTINCTLY SATISFACTORY

BRITISH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION’S OBJECT

In the opinion of Mr. J. S. Dickson, M.P., who lias just returned troin a visit to Australia, the Western Australia system of opening up and settling land on the group system is proving most satisfactory. That it is so is due to the generous terms of the Government. Mr. Dickson stated the British Parliamentary Delegation sought more to induce Australia to do away with secondary industries but received little encouragement.

Dominion Special.

Auckland, December 1

The encouraging results being obtained by the system of opening up land in Western Australia on the group settlement plan were mentioned to-day by Mr. J. S. DicksonM.P., who has just returned from a visit to Australia with the Empire Parliamentary Delegation. Mr. Dickson said that so much had been heard about the Western Australian project that the New Zealand

Mr. J.S. Dickson, members of the party made it their business to inspect the areas now being settled, and he had no hesitation in saying the scheme had been a success, and would prove a greater success in the future. “The groups consist of from ten to twelve families,” said Mr. Dickson, “and each family is given its area of land free of any initial cost, the amount of land allotted being in accordance with its quality, the sections ranging from 170 acres to 350 acres. The Government first of all builds an iron shed for the new settlers, and when they have cleared sufficient land a house of four rooms is built by the Government at a cost of £245. When the settlers have been established in their homes a contract is let to the group for the falling of bush and the clearing of sections, the Government paying up to £7 10s. an acre for this work. In clearing at this price, the settlers earn from £l6 to £2l a month. The Government next provides the settlers with seed and manure, and when the settler is ready for them he is given one, two, or three cows of high milking test.” Mr. Dickson explained that settlers were placed under an inspector, who trained them in the best farming methods. All the necessary implements were supplied to a group, and these were available to an individual settler as he required them, while each farmer was even supplied with a horse and cart. All costs borne by the Government were charged up against the land, and after three years the settler, who, up to this time has made no cash contribution to the scheme, begins to pav vearly amounts to meet interest and sinking fund. 'lhese payments are spread over a long period, at the end of which he becomes owner of the farm. The cost of this land to the settler would be from £l6 to £lB an acre, and in New Zealand would cost at least £4O an acre. Mr. Dickson said he, saw some of the land in meadow hay, the crop of which was equal to anything produced in New Zealand. The majority of the settlers were very happy. He had interviewed some who had landed from England onlv three weeks before. Most of these people were without any farming experience, but they were willing to work and to learn, and were contented with their prospects. He added that the authorities were in fact inclined to prefer people w'ithout farming experience, provided they were of the right type, as thev had no preconceived ideas which they had to discard in order to make the best of conditions in a new land.

Equally generous treatment was given to soldier settlers in irrigated areas, where grapes and currants were the chief products Mr. Dickson said he visited some of these settlements along the banks of the Murray River, and found the settlers were given their orchard block of from twenty to thirtv acres, and were. allowed three years before any payments were due These men also worked under instructors and at the end .of three-vear periods the payment which thev were to make to the Government was governed by the productivity of the land. If an' orchard did not come up to expectations so much was written off and payment based on what the land could actually produce. The delegates also visited sugar lands in Northern Queensland and found that while the State was suffering from drought the sugar plantations were not affected. Mr. Dickson said Queensland was producing half a million tons of raw sugar annually, but as consumption in Australia amounted to only half of that quantity the difficulty was to dispose rf the remainder. Owing to the high labour costs the Queensland growers were unable to compete in the world’s markets, and the Government gave a bounty on sugar exported to Great Britain to help them. Generally the same thing applied to the dried fruits industry. Mr Dickson said he was a bit disappointed at the attitude of the British section of the delegation. Their principal obiect, he said, seemed to he in the direction of having the secondary industries in Australia done awav with, thus allowing England to manufacture Australia’s requirements while that country concentrated on supplying them with raw materials. This idea did not meet with much encouragement in Australia.