AUSTRALIAN COAL CRISIS

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 15, 13 October 1943, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN COAL CRISIS

Threat Against Miners SYDNEY, October 12. The present position in the Australian coal industry is “just intolerable,” and the Government must face, the obvious fact that a coal crisis existed, declared the Prime Minister, Mr. Curtin,, in a communication to the miners’ officials. The Prime Minister added that drastic curtailment. of Australian war industries and food production appeared to be unavoidable because of coal shortages. He warned miners* that unless they continued to work he would cancel plans for their nine-day holiday break over Christmas and New Year. Because of the coal shortages,, the railway services in New South Wales will be reduced by 10 per cent, from next week. Both passenger and goods services will be affected. Mr. Curtin also announced that the Government had. rejected the miners’ proposals lor nationalizing the coal industry or taking control of the coal industry during the war. The reasons why nationalization was rejected were, firstly, because the Government already had full power under the National Security Regulations to obtain from owners any coal required and put that coal to whatever use it wished; second, to pay large sums in compensation to owners for their mines, to achieve exactly the same results would merely add to the war Budget. Grading of War Industries. A Melbourne report stated that the Government had begun grading war industries according to their degree of essentiality, in case coal rationing became necessary. The president of the Miners’ Federation. Mr. Wells, admits that if the mine stoppages continue there will not ■be enough coal at Christmas to keep indus; tries going. He advocates the release of all men with mining experience for work in the mines and- the appointment of conciliation officers who could settle disputes on the job. This latter move, he says, would produce another 1,000,000 tons of coal a year, “A refractory section of miners, and they alone, are responsible for the .shortage and its consequent deprivations, except so far as Government weakness must share the blame.” says the “Sydney Morning Herald” in an editorial today. “Every practicable device has been employed for settling the coalfields workers’ grievances, real or fancied, in the hope of averting the crisis which has now arisen.

“Appeasement having failed, an attempt at real coercion appears to be the only alternative before the Prime. Minister lo pronouncing the position ’just intolerable' and leaving it at that.”