The Sun FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1929 CONFLICT IN AUSTRALIA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 851, 20 December 1929, Page 8

The Sun FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1929 CONFLICT IN AUSTRALIA

A REMARKABLE conflict of administrative powers is going" forward or perhaps backward in Australia. This is the clash between the Federal Government and the New South Wales Government over the drastic attempts that are being made to break the ruinous deadlock on the northern coalfields of the strike-State. \ The Nationalist Government of that State has taken firm action in opening a colliery with the employment of voluntary labour for the purpose of ending an intolerable struggle between the mine-owners and workers, and also lias put into impressive practice its determination to maintain law and order in the disturbed district. The new Labour Government of the Commonwealth views the position differently, and Las attempted to intervene by calling upon the Federal Arbitration Court to deal with, the protracted dispute. The extraordinary situation represents, the first serious clash, between the Commonwealth and a State Administration. It is really a test of the Federal Constitution in its relationship with the powers of the States. Since the inception of the Commonwealth there has been much minor friction and difference of opinion between the divisions of administrative authority, but the present test of power is by far the most serious issue. In the Commonwealth Constitution the division of political authority followed (as explained often) the model of the United States, in that the Federal Government was given siiecific powers, dealing principally with Customs, taxation, communications, defence and navigation, while all others belonged to the States. This division has represented perfection in theory, but 'has been anything hut perfect in practice. The worst- difficulties, however, have been experienced in the divided control of industry. A multiplicity of Arbitration Courts with different awards and industrial regulations has virtually brought Australia to the edge of disaster. This view is confirmed by Mr. Justice Beeby, of the Federal Arbitration Court, who asserted yesterday that the only way to save the Commonwealth from a very disastrous upheaval was to exercise the extraordinary power of the court and order an immediate resumption of work at all the idle mines. Unfortunately, it is much easier in Australia to make a judicial order than to secure its obedience. The powei’s of the Federal Arbitration Court have been so extraordinary in the past that the Labour organisations in all the States merely accepted the court’s orders when these provided greater advantages than those afforded by the State’s Arbitration Courts. When the order of advantages was reversed the trade unions defied the Commonwealth Court and promptly indulged in the Australian “luxury of a daily strike.” And now the Government of New South Wales has announced its intention to challenge the “extraordinary powers” of the Federal Arbitration Court. An application is to be made to the High Court of Australia for a writ of prohibition to restrain that tribunal from attempting to exercise jurisdiction over the State Government. The subsequent litigation will be a good industry, no doubt, for learned counsel, but it may not contribute much help toward the settlement of industrial disputes. It is long past time, however, for bringing to an end a farcical, though extravagant, rivalry, not only as between industrial awards, but also between party governments, double processes of wage-fixing, and all the complicated political nonsense that makes Australia a byword, and loads it with an enormous burden of industrial costs and general taxation. Constitutionally, when and where a Federal award or court order conflicts with a State a ward or enactment, the Federal authority should prevail without question, hut obedience to any kind of authority in Australia is either plastic or brittle. For example, the New South Wales State railway system is supposed to be working under a Federal award providing for a working week of forty-eight hours, but since the Labour-ridden State believes in a shorter week, the railwaymen are paid 48-hour-week rates for 44 hours’ work. So the stupid business goes on. Mr. Stanley Bruce tried to get rid of the expensive tangle and was dismissed for his efforts. Perhaps Mr. Seullin will solve the problem, but quite evidently the Nationalist Premier of New South Wales is determined to resist dictation from the Federal Labour Government. Meanwhile, Australia is on the brink of the Gadarene precipice.

GRAFTON GULLY PARK

TO consolidate its park property in the Grafton Gully the City Council has decided to acquire an area of slightly over three acres south of the bridge. By this decision the wonderful basin of native trees and ferns will be preserved against inroads by private tracks or settlement schemes. On the Grafton Road side of the gully privately-owned sections already extend a considerable distance toward the bottom, and it is only the forbearance of the owners that has maintained the fringes of the hush intact. At the extreme head of the gully an unsightly filling has made its appearance, and the same processes are at work near “Cintra,” at the lower end. These processes are inevitable, and the ugliness with which they are accompanied in tlieir early stages soon disappears after they are finished. But the simple fact of their existence conveys an intimation that the City has been wise to extend its park before private owners are tempted to embark on further schemes which, while not designed to do so, must have the effect of destroying much of the gully’s natural charm. In the past the Grafton Gully has been rather a neglected asset. It has preserved its beauty in spite of the City Council, rather than with its aid. Looking down from the bridge, it is seen to be a place of wonderful freshness, with tall evergreens reaching up toward the lofty span, and the wide palms of innumerable tree-ferns appearing in the interlaced foliage. It looks very cool and inviting, but on a closer acquaintance is not quite so attractive. For a start, it is difficult to get down into the gully by way of the slippery and overgrown paths, and along the City side the lower edges of the old cemetery are in a bad state of neglect. In the deeper recesses the bush that appears so clean and impenetrable is found to conceal a good deal of unpleasant rubbish. Here is one of the chief breeding-grounds for mosquitoes, and it is sadly in need of attention. The City has been recommended to make a further purchase at the lower end with the object of preserving the park-like growth, and this is a scheme that deserves full consideration. If the property were thus consolidated and put on a proper basis, it could be made attractive to visitors and a place of cool restfulness. Instead of that it is now rarely visited, partly for the reason that far the easiest way of getting down from the bridge is to jump over,