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The Acting Prime Minister, Dr J. F. Cairns,
released the following statement after today's Cabinet
Meeting in Sydney.
The Cabinet today considered the distribution of
funds donated by the people of Australia to assist the people
of Darwin. The Prime Minister in his statement of 30 December,
1974, indicated that the Government was concerned to ensure
that the money so readily donated by sympathetic and
concerned Australians was distributed in a responsible manner,
to relieve the hardship of the people of Darwin, recognising
that the majority of them are no longer in Darwin.
The Cabinet noted that a Committee has been formed
comprising representatives of the Red Cross, the Salvation
Army, the Aborigines, the women and children of Darwin, the
Australian Council of Churches, and of the Northern Territory
Legislative Assembly, the City of Darwin Corporation, and
Government institutions.
The committee will be responsible for the
distribution of funds channelled into it.
Commenting on today's Cabinet meeting, the Acting
Prime Minister Dr J. F Cairns, said the Australian Government
would assist the Committee to the full, not only in
co-ordinating the activities of the Committee with the
activities of Government Departments, but would also ensure
that the funds are used for the purposes for which they were
donated.
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Dr Cairns said that while he understood the desire
of Darwin's political leaders to exercise responsibility in
the use of donated funds, the matter could not be left to
them alone. This was partly because the majority of Darwin's
residents are not in Darwin at all, and partly because
there can be much duplication in the distribution of funds
unless the Committee handling the funds is aware of all
allocations made by Government Departments, voltntary bodies,
and others. Similarly, some persons could be left out altogether.
Dr Cairns stressed the positive and non-political
stand taken by himself, the Australian Government, and the
Leader of the Opposition and called on all concerned to
re-establish the spirit of co-operation that has prevailed so
far throughout Australia.
Dr Cairns said the Australian Government did not
require that funds be handed over to it, nor did it want to
deprive local political leaders of a full role in deciding
what is done. But equally, he said, the Government would
not abdicate its own responsibilities, not only to Darwin
residents, still in Darwin, but to the majority of them who
are elsewhere. " I say to Darwin political leaders, to Premiers,
Mayors, sponsors of funds and to all others: Let us work
together in ensuring that the generosity of the Australian
people is properly used for the benefit of the people of
Darwin." 7 January, 1975
Note: Donations etc collected in various Darwin appeals can
be sent. to Mr John McDonald, Executive Officer, Darwin
Relief Appeal, Darwin; or to the Minister for the Northern
Territory, Parliament House, Canberra.