TluQ IIErDIAT'RE LEASIE:
ALBURY-WVODOGA
INTR ODUCTORY STATE1MTE N 3Y iTE PRIME INIIISTER,
1R. E. G. ' IIIITLAI, ALBURY CIVIC CENTRE,
JAUPJARY 1973
This is an historic meeting. It is the first time on
which the Governments of the two oldest and most important
States have come together with the Commonwealth to plan the
development of a new cityo I trust it will signal the beginning,
not only of similar regional development projects, but of a
new spirit of common enterprise within our Federation. The
Murray River, once the symbol of colonial separation and
interstate rivalries, may yet come to stand for a new era
of interstate co-operation.
All three Governments represented here are committed
to decentralisation. Nevr South Wales and Victoria have worked
towards this goal over many years. But my Government believes
that only with the active participation of the Commonwealth,
in a scheme involving all three Governments as well as the
local authorities, can real decentralisation be achieved.
This enterprise is therefore a challenge to our energy,
our ability to work together, and our determination to ensure
the success of a pilot project which may one day convert our
former dreams and theories into living and concrete reality.
On the outcome of this task, the whole future of decentralisation
in this country may stand or fall.
My Government is committed to the concept of building
new cities. In my policy speech last November, I announced that
at first we would concentrate our initiatives and endeavours in
the Albury-Wodonga area. In making this choice, we were conscious
that as a national Government our involvement would benefit two
States, and ease the pressure on our two largest cities Sydney
and Melbourne. As I have mentioned, we regard th-is project as only
the first of several new cities with the development of which
we will be involved. Te are determined, therefore, to use our
full resources to ensure its success. We believe that the
chances of success are high. Its location on the transport
corridor between Melbourne and Sydney will be attractive to
industry. It has an adequate supply of water. It is
convenient to major recreational areas, and its natural
environment provides a beautiful setting.
Let me outline briefly what the Commonwealth hopes to
see happen at Albury-Wodonga. We look first of all, for a
significant acceleration of population growth. Much of this
increased population would, we hope, be made up of people
who would otherwise have gone to Sydney or Melbourne. We
want to see Albury-Wodonga achieve the status of a major
city. We set no limit; to its growth, but believe that if
the new city is to achieve its major purpose it should have
at least 300,000 people. And this growth will be planned / 2
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to ensure a auality of life at the highest level; Pollution
will be controlled: The environment protected.
The economic benefits of this development must pass
to the people of Australia. Large sums of public money must
be spent. ' e believe that this can give a good return but
we must ensure that the return is to the community at large
and is not tapped off to provide an unearned ain to land
speculators. ie want land to be cheap and its use to be
controlled in such a way that the new city is both beautiful
and efficient. ' JI also want home ownership in the new city
to be less of a burden to families than it has become in the
major Australian cities. To th: is end the Common. wealth believes
that the leasehold system must. prevail.
From the beginning of this major project, we want local
people to be involved in its planning and operation. ' Je hope
that the machinery w hich is devined to develop and operate this
new city will, in at least some respects, become a model for
future local and regional Governmento
The Australian Government has available in the
.' ational Capital Development Commission and the ilTational Urban
and legional Development authority the fund of technical
expertise which has conceived, planned and built in Canberra,
the only substantial new Australian city of our time. For
historical and constitutional reasons we have had a particular
connection with the Murray Ilivcro The Commonwealth will be
associated with supplying the quantity of water required by
the now city through the Snowy Mountains Authority and the
œ ivcr Murray Commission.
Let me outline now the steps my Government has already
taken to ensure the success of this ventureo
The Postmaster-General's Department has been instructed
to prepare a report on the cost of recognising Albury-Wodonga
as an extension of the iMetropolitan area of both Sydney and
Melbourne, for the purpose of heeping telephone and telex charges
at a suitable level for industry.
The Australian Universities Commission and the
Australian Council of Advanced Education have, as I have already
indicated in my letters to Sir Robert Askin and Mr. Ilamer on
the 15th of December, been instructed to confer and report on
the provision of tertiary education facilities in this area.
In accordance with the recommendations of Sir Henry
Bland on the Victorian Land Transport System, the Bureau of
Transport E: conomics has been instructed to investigate the
impact of inter-system rating practices on rail traffic from
the Riverina. All Departments in the Federal Government have been
asked to investigate the possibility of locating divisions of
the Public Service in Albury-Wodonga / 3
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The new Department of Tourism and Recreation has
been instructed to investigate tourist development in Albury-
Wodonga and to recommend a program for increasing it.
Finally, as you are aware, my Government is committed
to amending the Commonwealth Grants Commission Act to give local
authorities access to the Commission. We propose to encourage
all relevant local authorities in the Albury-Wodonga area to
consult and co-operate in preparing such a submission on -a
regional basis. The new Department of Urban Affairs and
Regional Development will make its expert advisers available
to any co-operative effort among the local authorities.
I do not wish to anticipate the detailed decisions
that will flow from this meeting, but I trust we will reach
common agreement on our objectives, and set in motion a
feasibility study of the project. I hope we will reach
agreement upon the general structure and essential powers
of the tripartite development authority, on the structure
of consultation an%' supervision at Ministerial level, and
the procedure for involvement of local authorities.
I am grateful to the Governments of New South Wales
and Victoria for their generous co-operation in-this scheme
and for the valuable work they have already done to ensure
its success. Let us bend all our efforts to work in harmony
together and achieve our aims. None of us here is indifferent
to the present sprawling growth of our major cities, with all
the waste, the pollution, the inefficiency they bring, and the
baneful effect of their unchecked growth on the living standards
of our people. Here is a chance, in the most literal sense, to
build for tomorrow and improve the lives not only of the people
of this region, but of other cities, today and in times to come.