In the Musgrave Ranges we have 150 or 200 natives who are still in their tribal state, and who are much better occupied in entirely subsisting from the products of the bush than they would otherwise be. They are occupying the country better than it would be by two or three, or perhaps half a dozen white men who would despoil the waters, and then be forced to give up their holdings when the first drought rendered them useless. The detribalization of the natives I have in mind with the admixture of white blood would increase the expenditure of the State, so it would pay us better to keep those people intact, than to try to improve them and help them socially. Another suggestion I have to make is that in compiling a census of the population of Australia we should include every one, and not exclude half-castes and full-blooded aborigines. The result would be a showing of the native population as part of the general population of the country. Thus, instead of the census showing the northern parts of Australia to be populated with only a few thousand people, we could show it as being incapable of maintaining a higher number of persons than are now actually there.
Conference adjourned at 12.30 p.m. until 2 p.m.
CONDITIONS IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY.
Mr. BAILEY.—I suggest that, before any decisions are arrived at on the various subjects raised this morning, the conference proceed to a general discussion of those subjects.
Mr. McLEAN.—I think that more satisfactory results would be obtained if the conference dealt with one subject at a time.
Dr. COOK.—I agree with Mr. McLean, but the statements of Mr. Bleakley, Professor Cleland and Mr. Neville were so informative that I think it would be well if the representatives of each State or Territory first outlined conditions in their State or Territory for the information of the Conference. If that is agreed to, I shall briefly detail the provisions made in the Northern Territory, in the hope that representatives of New South Wales and Victoria will do the same in respect of their States. Then, having those views before us, we could proceed to deal with the several items, one by one.
The conference having accepted my suggestion, I shall refer, first, to the advance made in connexion with the treatment of half-castes in the Northern Territory. About 1929, the Commonwealth committed itself to a policy of lifting the half-castes to the standard of the whites. That policy, which has since been adopted by Western Australia, has been assailed from time to time, and, therefore, I shall give reasons for it. The white population of the Northern Territory is less than 4,000. Unless some unforeseen event occurs, such as the discovery of oil in payable quantities, or of valuable deposits of precious metals, that population is not likely to exceed 10,000 or 12,000 during the next half-century. Notwithstanding that the establishment of a garrison, naval base and airport at Darwin will increase the present white population there, and provide further avenues for employment and development, I do not think that my estimate will be exceeded. The natural increase of the white population in the Northern Territory is minus .3 per 1,000, so that, if left to itself, the white population would eventually die out. The natural increase of the half-caste population of the territory is 18 per 1,000. The census reveals a half-caste population of 758 in the territory, but as half-castes with alien fathers are not included in the half-caste population, the estimate is low. A more correct approximation of the half-caste population of the territory would be 900. They are nearly all-young, at least half of them being children. We have to face the position of raising them collaterally with the white population of 4,000. In other words, there is now a population of half-castes numbering one-fifth of the total whites, and having a natural increase of 18 per 1,000 compared with the white rate of minus .3 per 1,000, and it is only a matter of a few years before the half-caste population will approximate that of the while population. In my opinion, the Northern Territory cannot absorb all those people in employment, and, consequently, the question of disposing of the half-caste population arises. Should the total population reach 10,000, there will be work for, say, 3,000 of them. The problem will then arise as to who will do the work that is available. If half-castes are employed, the whites will be unemployed, and they will leave the country. If, on the other hand the whites are employed, the half-castes will be out of work, and will have to be maintained by the Commonwealth Government. The prospects in 50 years' time may be classified in one of three groups. First, there might be a white population in employment, all the work available being performed by white men. Included in the population would be a large number of half-caste adults, physically fit for work, but unable to obtain it, because of exclusion by law. They would be dependent on the territory for their maintenance. Secondly, instead of excluding them by law from employment, they might be employed in one of two ways. They might be employed as a subject race, at lower rates of pay, with white men occupying the supervising positions. That, however, would deprive large numbers of white men of the opportunity to live in the Northern Territory, and the work would be performed by an inferior type of individual existing on a lower standard than that of the white. In such circumstances, the extra white population would have to migrate. Thirdly, the half-caste and the white man might be given parity, each competing with the other for the work available. In that event, the half-caste would have to go if he could not compete with the white. Each of these alternatives has its unsatisfactory aspect. I suggest that if the half-caste is maintained at an inferior status, and he multiplies more quickly than is the case with whites, an untenable position will eventually arise. The half-caste population will probably rise in revolt, and, in any case, it will create racial conflict which may be serious. If, on the other hand, the half-caste is raised to the level of the whites, he will be able to migrate to other parts of Australia and compete there with white men on an equal footing should employment not be available for him in the territory. That would relieve the tension in the territory. After consideration of these alternatives, the Commonwealth, decided to raise the half-caste to the level of the whites. The children are to be educated as whites and apprenticed in industry as whites, and will compete in the labour market as whites. So far, the Commonwealth has seen no reason to regret the policy it has adopted, although it has been in operation for only seven or eight years.
If we accept that policy in relation to the half-castes, and admit all its implications, the question of the aboriginal raises a similar problem. In respect of aborigines, the Commonwealth recently adopted a policy somewhat analogous to that detailed by Mr. Bleakley. It divided the aborigines into three classes. First, there are the wild, uncivilized blacks, who temporarily at least, are to be left on their reserves to live their own lives as aborigines, uninfluenced by white activities, except that the Minister may permit missions to exercise some control over them. Secondly, there are the semi-civilised aborigines, living in the neighbourhood of white settlements—chiefly pastoral properties—and it is proposed that they shall continue more or less as at present. They will continue to be employed on stations,
