AUSTRALIA’S POPULATION

Grey River Argus, 5 October 1948, Page 8

AUSTRALIA’S POPULATION

SYDNEY, October 4.

Sir Clive Baillieu, Australian and British industrialist, who is on a visit to Australia, has urged the immediate adoption of a “fiscal and economic” policy designed to encourage to the limit the growth of Australia’s own population. Sir Clive said that when he was last in Australia, in 1945, there had been much discussion about Australia’s need for population. He had been pleased to discover that to-day, through the activities of the Commonwealth Government, the problem of immigration had been placed on a national plane. “Iffie flow of migrants from Britain will necessarily be small, because- of difficulties of transport, of the living facilities in Australia, and also the ‘counter-attractions’ of _ social and economic policy in Britain,” he said. “Australias best source of immigration must continue to be the growth of her own population. Vital statistics show, alarmingly, that we are an ageing population. For that reason it seems to me that we must adopt immediately, a fiscal and economic policy designed to encourage the growth of our population. The problem is a challenge to our national statesmanship. Speaking of British industry since VE-Day, 1945, Sir Clive said: “The development of Britain’s national effort can be summed up by saying that England, at the close of the war was faced with a major reconstruction problem. To-day she has largely regeared her economy to post-wai’ needs. Hex - problem is epitomised in the need for—and the results attendant upon—the export drive . . . Industry saw and appreciated the facts of the post-war situation earlier than most elements in Britain, and it has shown a willingness to face those facts and take every step within its power to improve the efficiency and productivity of industry over a very wide range of activity.”